Fallen Angels
by What About Scout
Summary: ...I wasn't sure where I was going, really. Away. Somewhere. Anywhere...A story about one man's struggle to get a grip on life despite his haunting past, and the help he gets from one person...WRITTEN IN LEO'S POV
1. Answering Machine

Hello, this is Hannah, you're story supervisor! If you look down, you'll see the DISCLAIMER, and further down is the SUMMARY...Ooh...Ahh...To your left is the end of the window, and to the right is the other end of the window. Please remember to keep your hands and feet and other objects (stop it, sickos. I don't mean anything like that...) inside the window at all times.

Have a safe read, and don't forget to review!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Charmed. Any events in this story that relate to any person (alive or dead) besides those who helped me out with their own experiences—you'll know who your are—came from my own imagination or the imagination that television has planted inside my head. Uh, if you see something that looks familiar and it bugs you, let me know. Now, I'm not saying I'm gonna do anything about it, but at least I'll know.

SUMMARY: This is a story about one man's struggle to "get a grip" on life and the help he gets from one woman, despite what's gone wrong in their pasts before. (I know, it's a short summary, but that's all that you really need to know. I don't want to give anything away.)

NOTE: THIS IS WRITTEN IN LEO'S POV

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE - ANSWERING MACHINE**

It wasn't raining hard. The forecast called for nothing more than the light rain that was coming down now. There were a few die-hards braving the rain, some of them just trying to go home, some of them on a mission to get somewhere...There was a group of young teens, no older than fourteen. Two girls, two boys, just walking in the rain. Across the street was a couple, seeming to be in their late twenties, huddled together, looking for a quiet cafe to go into to wait the rain out.

I wasn't sure where I was going, really. Away. Somewhere. Anywhere. I thought about a lot that night, in those couple of hours in the rain. Actually, I realized that wandering around in the rain can get a person two things: 1—A lot of time to think. 2—A reputation as an idiot.

Oh, well.

I watched the couple for a moment as I stood against a building across the street. The man had his jacket off and it was wrapped around the woman's shoulders. She started walking faster. He pulled her back by her hand and kissed her.

To be honest, I was jealous of them then. I knew that if I were standing there a month before, I would be happy for them, but right now I wasn't. But I knew that the chances were that they would not make it together. I'm not saying that what happened to me would happen to them...Then again, who knows? Still, I didn't hope it would be true.

I used to believe in soul mates...I think I still did then. I believed that there was only one person I could love and when she was gone, there was nothing. I could never love again.

At least, that was what I thought...

I remember the day I met her.

God, she was beautiful.

It was the way she walked that first caught my attention. She walked swiftly, with pride and determination. Her hair moved as she moved. When it was down, it would sway with her.

And her eyes. I could get lost in her eyes for hours, maybe days, and not even notice the world go by. Her copper eyes matched her long dark hair. I always had a weakness for brunettes, too.

I remember watching her walk past and not being able to make eye contact with her. My eyes would follow her along as she walked and just watch her smile at the people around her. Or sometimes I'd watch her legs.

But that's another story.

I wasn't too trusting of women then. I wasn't looking for a relationship, having just come out of a bad one a month or so before. She claimed not to be wanting one either.

She was energetic. Fun loving and carefree, she seemed to have the heart of a child inside the body of a beautiful woman. She tried for so long to get me out of my shell, even after knowing what had gone horribly wrong in my last relationship. She lived for the moment, not the future or the past. It seemed to work for her.

She was always showing up at my house, on my doorstep, in my kitchen. At first I tried to rid myself of her, but she kept coming back, like a lost puppy. After a time, I realized what she was doing, how hard she was working to bring me into the light. Not long after that, I started to realize how much I really wanted her.

And from there, we just took off...But I'll start from the beginning.

* * *

"I can't get—No, I need those numbers in here today." 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wyatt, but we can't get the fax to you until Friday."

"I ordered the papers last month. It's been delay after delay. What's next with you people?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but—"

"No, forget it. I'll get the files from a different company."

"Mr. Wyatt, I really think you're making a bad decision here. Our company—"

"Bite me."

I slammed the phone down on the charger with a frustrated sigh. My boss had been breathing down my neck for weeks now, demanding the files on the Brookson & Madison agreement that took place two months ago, a merger of two major banks across the country in New York. I'd ordered the papers long ago and the company just kept putting it off.

Oh well.

I'd have to get them some other way now.

I flopped down in my leather chair and felt it go back on the wheels when I did. I scooted up to my desk and deflated. Without really realizing it, I started beating my hands on the desk. I sighed again and looked around my office.

Huh.

My desk needed to be cleaned. I made a mental note to let my secretary know. It was a large oak desk with a few drawers on each side and a long drawer in the middle. It had a sheet of glass fitted on top of it so that I could slide pictures or notes into it and not worry about them being harmed by anything spilling or falling on it. It was a space saver as well, my secretary's idea. She was a neat freak.

* * *

When I came back in from an early lunch break, my secretary, a young woman in her twenties who had been working with me for almost three years, passed by me with a manila folder. She stopped and put the hand with the folder on my chest to stop me, too. 

"I thought you quit," she said, shaking her head. Her dark blonde hair swaying in its pony tail. She gave me the look a mother would give her son when he broke a window in a new house.

I shrugged but didn't take the cigarette out of my mouth.

"Leo..."

Oh, by the way, that's my name. Leo Wyatt. And my secretary's name is Sarah Jackson. Like I said, she was younger than me, about twenty-four. I was twenty-six then.

She shook her head again. She reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Then she took the cigarette I was smoking right out of my mouth. "You're quitting."

I sighed.

"Now, go work." She pushed me back to my office.

About three months ago Sarah had convinced me to stop smoking. I'll admit it was a bad habit, but I still had a cigarette whenever I was stressed.

I sat at my desk in the leather rolling chair. I looked at the phone on my desk and saw that the charger was beeping. I had a message. Three, in fact. I pressed the 'PLAY' button.

"This is Abby Larsen from—"

I pressed 'SKIP'.

"Leo, it's me. I know you don't want to talk to me, but you really need to listen. I'm so sorry, I should never have kept anything from you. I should have just told you. And I'm sorry I left, but I—I was scared...So I...I just left. I was scared, Leo. You have to understand that. Please call me, call my cell...Maybe...we...Maybe we can try again?"

The desperation in her voice was all too clear. I pressed 'STOP' and gave a deep sigh, leaning back in my chair.

I didn't want to talk to Monica Perkins.

We'd just broken up a few weeks ago. She was living with me and left in the middle of the night.

We didn't break up on good terms, either. We had a good relationship, up until the last few months. We started fighting a lot, for good reasons.

She cheated on me.

With my best friend.

It's safe to say Joe and I aren't friends anymore, especially since he didn't tell me he was sleeping with Monica. Neither one of them told me. They kept their two-month affair secret from me.

Then she got pregnant.

I, of course, thought it was my baby. We'd been dating for about seven months and we were both happy. We talked about getting married, told our families. That was when she decided to tell me the baby might not be mine. I confronted Joe, and he denied everything at first, then finally confessed. Then Monica and I fought a lot, and she continued to say she was sure the baby was mine, that it wasn't Joe's.

Three weeks later, she miscarried.

Joe and I were both at the hospital. We tried not to fight, but couldn't help it. But when it came down to it, we were both in Monica's room with her, taking turns comforting her. She was devastated. She wanted to keep the baby, no matter whose it was.

So she left.

I didn't talk to her for two weeks, then she started calling, leaving messages, trying to get a hold of me, get back together. I haven't called her back yet, and I didn't know if I was going to.

* * *

The next day, I decided to call. I was in an outdoor restaurant, sitting by myself with a tall coffee. My cell phone was sitting on the table I was at and I was debating whether to pick it up and call her or just stare at it. Right now I was staring. I took a drink of coffee and finally picked up the phone. I opened it and held down the 5 button, remembering Monica's number was on my speed dial. In a few seconds it was ringing. I waited. 

"Leo?" a scared voice picked up.

"Monica..."

"I'm so glad you called."

"Yeah...I got all your messages..."

There was a pause, where I could hear some sniffling and coughing. "Are you crying?" I asked.

"It's...It's just been really hard," she said, and I could tell she really was crying.

I didn't know what to say. I was trying to feel sympathy for her, but I could only feel anger. "We can't get back together, you know."

There was a pause, then a sniffle. "I know," she said quietly.

I heard a man's voice in the background at her house. "Is that Joe?" I asked, knowing full well it was him.

There was another pause. "...Yes."

"Oh my God—"

"No, no, Leo—"

"Don't bother, Monica."

I hung up and sighed. So she was living with Joe, like she said she might be. She had talked about maybe moving in with him. She'd said that he was willing to take care of her.

How had everything gone so bad so quickly?

Why would she want to try again with me if she was with Joe?

She was ready to cheat on him, I thought...It didn't matter. I didn't care. I wanted to, I really did. I wanted to knock some sense into her, to feel sorry for her and grieve with her for a child that could have been mine...But I couldn't. I didn't feel anything, really.

I was cold.

I didn't trust women. I knew not all women were like Monica, but she was the second girl who had cheated on me. Was it me?

I shook my head and told myself to forget it, that it was coincidental.

But I still didn't want another relationship for a while. In all consideration, I knew there were true women out there, who worked for what they got and deserved it all, but I just couldn't seem to find her.

And right then I didn't want to.

* * *

**Okay, I hope you liked it! I want everyone to know that I've already written this entire story out, and it's fifteen chapters long. So one down, fourteen to go! Some of the chapters are average-length like this, but there are a few that are really long, in my opinion. This is, of course, a P&L fic, but it's a little different than the scenario that goes: They meet, they greet, they fall in love. This one is different. It was a lot of fun to write, too! Piper comes in in Chapter 3, don't worry. We have to close the Monica case first.**

**Please review! It doesn't take that long and I want to know what you think!**

**- Scout**

**PS: God, I HATE this new login thing! Why did they have to change it?**


	2. Fight At the Office

I think I waited a little longer than I wanted to to update, but I have my reasons. We're moving our house out and putting a basement and a new house in. We'll be out of the house this Thursday morning (July 7). The house is due in around the 11th and we should be fully settled with everything unpacked and in around the end of the month, if not earlier. I'm really not sure. I think I'll be able to update from where we're staying at, and I'll have the third chapter up ASAP.

Thanks to:

Paige Halliwell-Matthews: Thanks!

AsherSmasher: Aw, thank you so much! I love hearing that I have talent!

scullymulder: I have two email addresses on AOL. I still have the Squrl name, but I can't get on it! I forgot the password! So the only one I'm on is Hopefully I can remember the password...maybe...someday...I hope...lol, how sad is that?

PunkRokPixie: Thanks, and I know! I hate the login screen! It's hard to find my way around now, and we were just fine before! And why did they have to change the ratings, too? Ugh, I hate the K and T and K+ and M and crap...It's so confusing! How are we supposed to know if 9-year-olds can read our stuff or not? I miss the PG13 and PG and R and ratings that we're used to!

notanothernonamer: I like your name! Yeah, this is my only fic in a character's POV. I liked writing it a lot.

piperleo4eva: Yeah, I know! Now we know who's been reading our stories and we can also know who's not reviewing! We can single them out now, though...You know, use it against them...

Alyssa Warren: Yeah, it's nonmagic. I don't really like writing magic fics, but I will read them. I think it makes it a little complicated.

* * *

Chapter Two - At the Office

I jumped when Sarah dropped a pile of papers on my desk.

"Falling asleep on the job?" she inquired, referring to the fact that I had been half asleep in my chair.

I shook my head. "Never. I'm just tired."

She raised one eyebrow at me. After a second, she leaned over my desk, putting her hand on the papers she'd dropped there to steady herself. "Monica called."

I looked up, interested. "When?"

"...Like...ten minutes ago..."

I had a feeling Sarah was keeping something from me. "...And...?"

She looked guilty. "And...And she said she was coming by."

"What?" I stood up quickly.

She must have been startled, because she stepped back and put her hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, I tried to talk her out of it, but she refused and said she'd be here in like fifteen minutes."

I took in a deep breath. Monica. Here.

Crap.

This wouldn't go well...

* * *

Sarah convinced me to continue working and I added up some expenses of our company for the next ten painstaking minutes. I hadn't seen Monica since the night she walked out and I wasn't expecting to see or hear from her after I hung up on her the day before. I shouldn't have been so nervous about seeing her. I shouldn't have, but I was.

She showed up ten minutes later than she said she would. I was almost mad at her for that. When she _did_ show, I pretended not to notice. She was standing in my door and I was refusing to make eye contact with her.

"Leo."

Nope.

"Leo," she tried again.

Nothing.

"Leo, for God's sake will you at least look at me?" she cried.

I finally turned to her. My eyes fell on her stomach and memories flooded my mind. I looked away, turning my gaze to her eyes. She looked guilty, but it was a different kind of guilt that I'd noticed in Sarah's eyes. This was pain.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" I asked her.

She looked hurt and a part of me was glad for it.

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said, pushing out of my chair and walking out of my office. She followed.

"The hell there isn't!"

I tried to ignore her.

"You have to hear me out! You have to hear what I have to say!"

I whipped around to her. "Fine, Monica, what exactly do you have to say?"

She looked stunned for a few seconds, but then she stepped back and composed herself, smoothing her shirt out. She looked up at me. She was shorter than me by a few inches, with wavy blonde hair just below her shoulders and blue eyes and a gym body. When I first met her, she spent most of her spare time at the gym.

"That..._was_ Joe you heard."

"I know that."

"But it wasn't what you think."

"What did I think?" I hissed.

She gulped. "We're not back together, Joe and I. He was just...He..."

"Save it." I turned my back to her again and walked away. I heard her shoes on the floor as she followed.

"Leo, please! Hear me out!"

I turned to her again. "I don't want to hear it, Monica!"

"Well God damn it, Leo, I don't care! It hurt me, too, you know! Don't think it didn't! I lost my baby, my _child_!"

I sighed and tried to be understanding. "I know that, don't you think I do? But what you did was _wrong_. How was I supposed to know if that baby was even mine?"

"I don't want a Maury life, Leo," she said, and I knew she said that because Maury was one of her favorite shows.

I almost laughed. "This is past Maury. This is Jerry Springer."

She glared at me.

I wanted to say, "And this is the part where they all shout 'Hoe!'"

But I didn't.

* * *

Two days later I was still living in the aftershock of my encounter with Monica. I hardly got any work done and I was unable to concentrate. When I went home I just sat on the couch with my dog and usually fell asleep there. It wasn't very comfortable waking to a large Siberian Husky on my legs or stomach. Toby (I know, not too clever of a name) was an enthusiastic roommate, and he kept me company. It was Monica who had talked me into getting a puppy, and I never regretted it, of course, except for the potty-training part of having a puppy. The floor through my entire house was covered in newspaper for weeks.

But that's not the point.

The point was that now I took some comfort in my dog, and he was such a good companion. He seemed to listen when I petted his ears and told him about what happened at the office. I know, it must seem strange to know that I talk to my dog, but admit it, lots of people do.

_Ring! Ring!_

I glanced lazily at the phone, then at Toby. His ears perked up and he looked at me with questioning eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Should I answer?"

He literally smiled. I swear he did. His large mouth opened and he started panting. I looked upside down off the arm of the couch and reached for the phone. It took some stretching with Toby on me, but I finally got the phone off the charger. I looked at the Caller ID.

_Peterson, Michael_

That was my sister, Ashley. She married Michael two years ago. She's three years younger than me, making her twenty-three then. I know, she was married when she was young, only twenty-one, but she and Michael were high school sweethearts, and he won our parents' approval. He was definitely part of the family.

I pressed the 'Talk' button on the phone and put it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey!"

I immediately pulled the phone away from my ear. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, there, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, sorry. I just haven't talked to you in like four days. Wondering what my brother's up to," Ashley said.

"Okay...How are you?"

"Fine. Better than you, it sounds. What's wrong?"

I ran a hand down my face to try to wake myself up a little better. "Um...I, uh...had a fight with Monica."

"Another one?"

"Yeah, but this was the grand finale."

"How'd it go?"

"She came to my office..."

"Oh, God..."

"She was saying things about getting back together...She's living with Joe, like she said she might be."

"She's living with Joe but she wants to get back together with you?"

I could hear the amusement in my sister's voice.

"Yeah."

She laughed out loud. When she calmed herself, she said, "I'm sorry."

I smiled. Suddenly I heard a baby crying in the background at Ashley's house. "What was that? A baby?"

"Yeah—Oh...Michael!" she yelled away from the phone. "It's his sister's baby, we're watching her while she's at work."

"Aw. What's her name?"

"Who? His sister? She's not single, Leo, if that's what you mean."

I laughed. "I meant the baby."

"Oh! Sorry! Uh, Ally."

"Cute."

"Yeah, you can have her. At least until six, when Alyssa—sister—comes home."

"Nope."

"No? Why not?" she whined.

"I don't do babies."

"Whatever...Listen, I gotta go. I'm sorry about the crap with Monica. Don't worry about her. You'll get over her and get through it. Call me if you need something."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye." She hung up.

I looked at the phone after pressing 'End'. I sighed and set the phone down on the floor. I looked at Toby. His eyes were on me, his ears up. He gave a little bark and tried to scoot up on my chest, using his paws to move.

"What are you doing?"

He stopped abruptly and stared.

"What?"

He barked.

* * *

**Okay, now Piper's gonna come in in the next chapter. Like I said, I'll update as soon as I can. Right now we're finishing packing up the house. My mom and brother are waiting till the last moment, and my room is done and done now! I'm on top of things! I'm ahead! I'm winning! (I'm leaving now)**

**-Scout**


	3. The Way She Walks

**I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!**

**It wasn't supposed to take so long! I was told it'd be THREE WEEKS to take out my double-wide, put in a basement, and put in the new house, and it took almost EIGHT! I have been gone for WAY too long! I tried to get this chapter up a few days ago but it wouldn't work! So now here it is, and I really hope you like it! I'm trying to get a chapter up for every story now, to repay you all for my absence.**

**By the way, I heard a rumor that you weren't supposed to respong individually to reviewers, but I'm going to keep doing it until an official says something to me. I think you all deserve it, it lets you know we're listening to your opinions and ideas, and it can be a good way to learn about another writer.  
And speaking of reviews, these responses are all I could save. All my email got deleted for some stupid reason...I'll try to get them all for this chapter to make up for it, but these are what I had before I...left.

* * *

**

PunkRoxPixie: I love dogs too! I'm an animal maniac! When I'm doing homework, my cat come into my room with me and sits on my bookbag or on my folders. My dog knows how to round up the chickens, and the goat knows how to come when she's called. My oldest chicken, who's a year older than the seven other ones we got at Easter, comes when she's called, too! You just pretend like you're calling the cats and go "here, kitty kitty!" and Bubbs (chicken) comes running! It's hilarious! She thinks she's a cat! And she waits on the front porch at night for us to take her into the hutch!...And omg, I HATE moving! My friend recently moved into her grandmother's old house, and now she's like the moving QUEEN! My mom and brother waited until the last MINUTE to pack up, and then my mom worked until like 2 in the morning packing up. She's throwing a lot away, but I'm a major pack rat, like my grandma...Oh, and Monica is based on a real girl, but she's not as nasty as I made her out to be, I just don't really like her. (she's the girl that the guy I like has a crush on. He told my friend who moved--since she can get anything out of him--that he likes me and Monica, but he doesn't know which one he likes more...and I've known him since 3rd grade!) Sorry I rambled so much!

halli-halliwell: My boxer-pit whines when she wants out and my mutt-dog runs back and forth from the door to the nearest person. My Lab-Shepard that lives with my dad and step-mom is a really good walker, but when he smells something he likes, he's outta there! My step-mom's Akita-mix, this beautiful little teddy-bear dog, is a crazy walker! One time I tried to walk the Lab and Akita at the same time and I swear my arms almost ripped out!

notanothernonamer: I think you'll like Piper's character. She's...fun. Very fun. She's a lot like me! If the story were to be made into a movie, I could play the character for two reasons--A: because I'd get a lot of money. B: because I'm fun like her!

scullymulder: Yeah, Monica's so going! I had to get rid of her! But she'll leave a lasting impression on Leo, that's for sure...Which is why Piper comes in to the rescue! BTW, did you email SammersKkcnkSMac or the Squrl one? 'Cause Sammers works, that's what I use.

LeoPiper-Forever: Everyone's looking forward to Piper! What if she's not what you expect? j/k, she's cool. She really comes into the story in Chapter 4, though.

* * *

Two weeks passed and I didn't hear from Monica or Joe. That was perfectly fine with me. I focused on work and spending lunch breaks with Sarah. I was almost sure she had a thing for me, and I'll admit, she was a beautiful, energetic person, but other than a little flirting, we stayed friends.

I was a regular at the restaurant I mentioned earlier. Sarah and I were there a lot and Ashley and I met up there, too.

I tried not to think about Monica.

So I let my friends take me to their favorite bar.

When I agreed to spend that Saturday night with the four craziest men I know, I felt a pang of dread. (No offense, guys, but you really are insane.)

Jack, Ryan, Chris, and Blake.

We'd grown up together. We knew each other since the first grade. They showed up at my place around nine and dragged me out.

"You need to start looking into other women," Jack told me.

"Yeah, start checking out more asses, stare at more legs," Ryan said.

We all laughed.

* * *

They took me to Gloria's, their favorite bar. From eight to midnight, they had a DJ doing karaoke. Some of the singers were really good. Some really sucked. One girl, my guess was she was about fourteen, had one of the best voices I'd ever heard. The whole bar started dancing when she started singing. Jack tossed a twenty dollar bill at her and she immediately pocketed it with a smile. Chris and I started yelling, "Nashville Star! Nashville Star! Nashville Star!" at her to tell her how good she was.

Most of the time, though, we drank and made rude comments about Monica. We complained about her and embellished on her bad points to make me feel better.

By midnight, the Monica we all knew turned into a monster. She had brown teeth and bad breath. Her hair was frizzy and crap-colored when she didn't dye it. We said she was too short, her nose was too small, her ears were too _big_. We said her eyes were blue because of contacts. She was fat, too.

Of course, she was none of these things, but we were drunk and blowing off steam, what did we care?

We stumbled home, since Blake's house was only a couple blocks away. We accidentally hailed a cab by waving and cheering. The cab van stopped, backed up to us, and asked if we wanted a ride. We laughed all the way home about it.

At three o'clock in the morning, after Blake's girlfriend fell asleep on the couch in their living room, refusing to watch us, we split up. Chris crashed at Blake's house. Literally _crashed_. He just...fell on the lazy boy in the living room and started snoring. Jack and I both wanted to go home, so Blake made us go through his home-sobriety test. Jack passed and I didn't, so he drove me home. I didn't have my car, anyway.

I barely made it inside, went straight to my room, and fell on my bed. A yelp made me jump. Toby crawled to the end of the bed with a low growl. I fell asleep on top of the blankets.

* * *

Six hours and one hangover later, I was at that indoor/outdoor restaurant again, sitting outside. I was watching the people go past, focusing on the women. Something made me distrustful of them, even though I didn't know them. I didn't want to know them.

I watched them all walk past, and not one of them meant a thing to me.

Then I saw her.

No, not Monica. The one I was talking about earlier, in the beginning.

She was walking past with a cell phone to her ear. She was moving quickly, her walk was brisk. Her long brown hair was swaying with her and her hips swayed as she walked, too. She glanced around the sidewalk and our eyes met for a split second before she looked away. She weaved her way among the tables and chairs in the outdoor section of the restaurant until she found a waiter made an order off the top of her head, then she found a seat and continued her phone conversation.

She was sitting a couple tables away from me, and when she looked up, our eyes would meet for a second before we both looked away. Once, when she looked up, she was smiling, but I brushed it off because she was already smiling when she was looking down. I assumed she was talking to her boyfriend...or fiancé.

I looked at her hands, working away at the edge of her coffee. She had no ring.

I had to smile.

She said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and hung her phone up. She looked up at me again and smiled. I was paralyzed. I tried to look away, but I could see her eyes from where I was and I was lost. She smiled again and stood up, grabbing her coffee with her. I tried not to watch her, but I couldn't help it.

She moved to my table and sat across from me. That surprised me.

"Hi," she said to me, smiling.

"Uh..."

She flipped her hair back behind her shoulders. Then she stuck her hand out over the table. "Piper."

I shook her hand weakly, still confused. "Leo."

"Hi," she said again.

"Hi," I managed to say.

"So what's up, Leo?" she said.

I sighed and leaned forward. "Piper, is it?"

She nodded.

I glanced at the people around us, then my gaze fell on her again. "This...Who are you?"

She laughed a little and pushed back some stray hairs. Once again she stuck her hand out over the table with a smile. "Piper Halliwell. Well, Piper _Elizabeth_ Halliwell, according to my birth certificate."

No one had ever just come up to me and started talking with so much enthusiasm. I wasn't sure of what to say. "Okay..."

"So what's up?"

"Uh..."

She settled into her chair, took a sip of coffee, and then leaned forward again. "I came over here because it looked like..." She shrugged. "It looked like you were a little down."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "It did?"

She nodded. "I thought maybe you'd like some company..."

"Well, Piper..." I leaned forward too. "I don't want any company." I didn't mean to sound too rude, but I didn't want to talk to some strange girl right now.

My comment didn't even phase her. She shrugged again. "I don't care what you do or don't want. I can tell what you _need_, and you need some company right now."

"How can you tell?" I challenged her.

She finished another sip of coffee. "It's in your eyes." She set the cup down. "So what happened?" she questioned. "Girlfriend dump you? Lost your job?"

I smiled. "No."

"Then why are you so down in the dumps?" she asked.

I directed my smile at her, but then I frowned and shrugged. I stood up, tossed a dollar on the table for the waiter, and started to walk away.

She stared at the dollar before scrambling up to follow me. "Wait! Wait up!" She caught up with me on the sidewalk, her coffee still in hand. "Some hell of a tip you left there," she said as she walked beside me, as if we'd known each other for years.

I didn't comment. What would make her go away?

"Hello?" She stepped in front of me and waved her hands in my face. I stopped and stared at her. She was just too damn beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. But I did my best to ignore her. This was just all I needed today...

"Hello? You there?"

I blinked. "Why are you following me?"

She smiled. "Thought I lost ya."

I continued walking and so did she.

"Where ya goin'?"

She was annoying, to say the least.

"Back to work."

"Where at?"

"A building."

"Well, duh, I figured. I didn't think you worked at like a loading dock or something..." She laughed to herself. "Which building?"

"The big one."

She nodded sarcastically. "Right...Well, Buddy, this is San Francisco. There are _tons_ of big buildings around here."

"The biggest one."

"Oh, of course. That clears it up..."

She was sarcastic.

She was sarcastic and annoying. But so goddamn beautiful. I almost _wanted_ her to follow me. But I didn't want her to. No, no, no, no, no. I told myself I was going to wait a while until I tried for another relationship. This was _definitely_ not waiting. I didn't _trust_ women then, I didn't want to be _around_ women then, I just wanted to do my job and drink away the weekends with my friends. At least for the next few months.

So I tried to make her go away. I tried ignoring her. I made rude comments, I barely spoke, I tried to walk faster to give her a hint, but _no_. She _kept following me_. In fact, she followed me right up to my workplace. Right to the revolving doors.

"So this is where you work, huh?"

I nodded.

"Well...Good luck at that!" She patted my shoulder and started to leave.

"Wait!"

She stopped.

"Where are you going?"

She smiled. "Home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"...Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at the restaurant. You probably go there all the time, right? Since it's so close. You spend lunch breaks there, right? Am I right?"

I was silent. She was right.

Her smile grew. "Ah, I knew I was right." She turned to walk away. "See you tomorrow, Leo!" she said as she walked down the street, her back to me.

I wasn't sure what to say or do.

This woman was stalking me. Or something like that. She was doing _something_, and I was almost afraid to know more about her.

But there was something about her that just...I don't know.

Maybe it was the way she walked.

* * *

**I hope you all liked it! I'll get the next one up as soon as I can!**

**I'm Back!  
I'm Home!  
Yay!**


	4. The Visitor

** I want to give a thank you to Ryan, Blake, Chris, and Jacob for being such good sports! Luv you guys!**

Chris - Do your math homework!

Ryan - You know I love ya, even though you're a QUITTER when it comes to football!

Jacob - I know I changed your name to Jack. It was only to protect you! lol

Blake - I'm not mad at you! (mostly)

* * *

**EM: I'm glad you liked it!**

**Paige Halliwell-Matthews: I liked writing Piper has funny and sarcastic. I hope you liked reading it!**

**PunkRokPixie: Yeah, I think this is the longest I've kept Piper out of a story!**

**halli-halliwell: Yay I'm back!**

**Kay: Okay, I think you're missing the point of AU writing. Alternate Universe means they're in a different time, different place. I also happened to give them different personalities. Personally, I think the show portrays Leo as a little bit too much of a wimp, and Piper is too much of a bitch. I know that their personalities are different - I wanted to write them like that. I also know that the only similarities they have with the show are their names and descriptions - that's the point. I want this to be MY story, so I want to keep Piper and Leo...but I want them to be more like my own creations. And actually, I kind of WANTED it to seem like it could be written for anyone. I originally wrote it NOT to be for Charmed, and if you read around on you'll find that a lot of people write their characters with different personalities...I do hope you continue reading the story, though.**

**Alaii: I love the way I'm writing Piper, too! I like her sarcasm.**

**scullymulder: I got your email! But of course you already knew that because you emailed me back! Right! Okay!**

**Shima and Tempis: I know, I've got a funny picture of Leo being drunk in my head, too.**

* * *

I didn't believe her when she said, "See you tomorrow." I thought she was joking. She had to be joking. She wouldn't actually try to meet up with me again, would she?

Well, she did.

* * *

I went home in a daze and ordered Chinese food. I sat down on the couch and muttered a few things to Toby how strange that girl was. He listened obediently, but it could have been that he was waiting for me to throw him some of my food. I had a little fun with that, stabbing a piece of chicken with a chopstick and waving it around Toby's face. His eyes followed it everywhere.

"Easy," I told him when he snapped at the meat. His mouth closed. I gave him the chicken. It wasn't often that he got "people food" but he still didn't take his time eating it; it was gone in three seconds.

I thought about calling Ashley, seeing what my little sister was up to. Instead, I took a shower. I was coming out of the bathroom with pajama bottoms on when I nearly fell over Toby, who was lying right on the other side of the door.

"What're you doing?" I asked him, knowing he couldn't answer.

But he did answer, by looking into the bathroom behind me. He whimpered.

"Oh, I get it...Hold on." I left the hallway and went through the living room and kitchen to the utility room. I tossed the towel I was holding on top of the washing machine and went back to the bathroom, where Toby was sitting. As soon as he saw me he jumped in the bathtub.

After Toby got a bath, he rubbed his wet fur all over my house and shook off right on my bed. I unclogged the tub drain from his fur and went to my room. Toby was rolling all over my bed. I shook my head at him and tried to push him off, but it didn't matter anyway because the bed was soaked with water from Toby's fur.

I managed to fight Toby off the bed. I turned to get another blanket and when I turned around again, Toby was back on the bed.

* * *

The next day, on my lunch break, I almost stayed in my building. Instead, I went out, determined not to go to the restaurant.

But I did.

And there she was, quietly sipping her coffee, sitting at the same table we were at the last time. She looked up at me and smiled brightly. I decided it wasn't worth fighting so I sat across from her at the table.

"Told ya," was the first thing she said.

"Told me what?" I asked.

"I told you you'd be here," she said with a smile.

I managed a small smile and shook my head.

"Here," she said, handing me a coffee, "I ordered you one. It's just black, add whatever you want." I took the drink with some suspicion, and she noticed. With a laugh, she said, "It's not poisoned or anything...Here." She took it from me, took a drink, and swallowed. "See?" She opened her mouth. "Ahh," was the sound that came out of her mouth as she stuck her tongue out. "All gone. And I'm not dropping dead."

I had to smile.

She handed the coffee back to me and I took a sip. She smiled.

* * *

That day, since it was Friday, I had a longer lunch. Instead of half an hour, I had an hour. Piper took advantage of that. She dragged me away from the restaurant to take a walk.

"Why are you here?"

"For you," she answered me simply.

That stunned me silent.

When I found my voice, I asked, "What?"

She shrugged.

"What are you, some sort of guardian angel?"

"Why, are you a fallen angel?"

At first I thought it was a simple counter question, her using the word "angel" because I'd used it. Then I thought about it. She didn't know about my bad break-up with Monica, so she couldn't have been referring to that...

"Do you need some guarding, then?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"Why are you so cold?" she questioned after a few seconds.

I looked down at her. She was leading me down the street, but she wasn't touching me at all. Why would she say—Oh, she meant emotionally cold. Duh, why didn't I think of that in the first place?

I shrugged again. "I don't know."

She sighed. "I was right, then, wasn't I?"

"Right about what?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"You just came out of a bad break-up, didn't you?"

When she said it, her hand dropped and it brushed against mine. I immediately put my hand in my pocket and moved a couple feet away from her. She might not have meant anything by it, but I didn't want to take any chances. I was still trying to make her go away. She just _wasn't_ going.

"Jeez, sorry, my hand had nowhere else to go..." she muttered. "But I was right, though, huh?"

I didn't respond.

"So what happened? She dump ya? Cheat and you caught her?" Piper stopped. She put her hand on my arm to stop me, too. "She slept with your brother."

I jerked away and continued walking. "I don't have a brother."

"Your sister, then?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No, she didn't sleep with my sister."

"But you have a sister?"

I nodded.

"How old is she?"

"She's younger than me."

"How much?"

"Three years."

"How old is she?"

_Stop with the questions...Just go away!_ "Twenty-three."

"Ohh, so you're twenty-six?"

I nodded again.

"Great! I'm twenty-five!"

"How is that great?"

She shrugged. "It just is...So you have a sister. She your only sister?"

I nodded yes.

"I have three. Phoebe is younger than me, Paige is younger than _her_, and Prue and I are twins. Not identical. She's taller and she's got black hair."

"Well there's a difference."

Piper nodded her agreement.

I noticed a similarity in their names. "All your names start with P," I said.

She smiled widely. "Yeah," she said. "All our names start with a P. And our mom's name is Patty and our grandmother's name is Penny, but we just call her Grams."

I nodded to show I was listening. Why was she telling me all of this about her? Did she think I was going to spill _my_ family history next?

"Prue broke tradition, though, because she named her son Kevin. And I want a daughter named Melinda..." Piper sighed wishfully. "Maybe someday..." She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. "Phoebe and I are starting an M tradition. There aren't many M names, but I think there are more than there are P names...I mean, Prue's the only one of us with kids, but still. Someday..."

_Wow, she talks a lot._

A clock from a nearby church bonged out the time. One o'clock.

"I have to get back to work."

Piper nodded. "Okay, come on." We turned down a street three blocks from my building.

"Actually, I had to get back to work about five minutes ago."

"Well, come on, then!" She started running and I ran after her.

We made it to my building out of breath. She was laughing. I caught my breath and headed up the steps to the door. I didn't notice her following me. I went through one of the revolving doors and she followed. I stopped and watched as she went around and around in the door, laughing and smiling.

"Get out of there."

She came out, on the inside of the building. I let out a frustrated sigh and headed for the elevators. She followed.

"What are you doing?" I asked between clenched teeth as we boarded the elevator. We were the only two people in there.

She smiled. She smiled a lot. "Going to work."

I barely kept my jaw from dropping. "You work here." I couldn't believe her.

Her smile grew. "No, but you do."

I groaned.

She smiled.

* * *

She followed me around the 10th and 11th floors—the two floors I worked on—for two hours. She made a home of my office and chatted with Sarah for half an hour. She snooped in the drawers at my desk and looked through files. She found a few confidential papers.

"What's this?" she asked me when I came into my office. She was holding the papers I was looking for. I snatched it from her. She lowered her feet from my desk and snapped the gum she was chewing. "What's with you?"

I gave her a look.

She gave me one back.

She reached up to try to snatch the papers from me but I held them out of her reach. She pouted. "What papers are those?" she asked again.

"Confidential."

She sighed loudly. "Men."

I smiled.

"I'm bored," she whined.

"Then go home," I said, my back to her as I left my office.

"I don't want to!"

I didn't respond to that, and when I came back into my office after copying the papers, she was lounged back in my chair, feet crossed and propped up on the desk, twirling a piece of her hair around a finger. She didn't look up at me. "You're no fun," she pouted.

"You don't even know me and you're sitting in my office. This is as fun as it gets."

"Can we go home?"

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. "W—_We_?"

She nodded. "I want to know more about you."

I stood in the doorway to my office, just staring at her, totally confused. Who the hell was she anyway, following me to my office and then saying she wanted to go back to _my_ house?

I turned on my heels and left the office. She must have gotten the idea that this wasn't an "into the office, out of the office" trip, that I was leaving. I heard her scramble up out of my chair and run after me. She put her arm around mine and I pulled away.

"Okay, okay, no touchy. Got it..."

I walked past Sarah's desk on my way out. Piper stumbled along beside me.

"'Night, Sarah."

"'Night, Leo. Bye, Piper."

I almost tripped. Piper smiled and waved a little at Sarah. "Bye bye."

I wasn't sure how she was going to get to my house. As far as I could tell, she didn't have a car, and I didn't think she was going to try to ride in mine.

I was at my car door when she popped up behind me. "Hey, what about me?"

I laughed out loud. "You?"

She was smiling. "Yeah."

I stared at her for a moment, silent. Then I sighed and said, "Get in."

She smiled again. "Yay!" She ran around to the other side of the car and got in.

I wasn't sure what was wrong with me.

She blasted the radio to any and every song she could find. It was a twenty-minute drive, so we made it through a few songs and five minutes of her yelling at Lea, the host on one station who was talking about the school board debating whether to make kids wear uniforms.

Piper seemed to know what she did and didn't want.

"These kids need to express themselves, they deserve that _right_ to express who they are, and a lot of it shows through clothing!" she was saying, partly at the radio and partly at me. "Take that away and you take away their individuality! It'll just make kids more _angry_ if they can't _pick_ what they want to _wear_ everyday!"

"You have kids?" I asked her.

She laughed out loud. "No, but my twin sister does. Prue, remember? She's got a son, Kevin. I told you," she said.

I nodded. "Right..."

"Are we almost there?"

I shrugged. "I dunno."

"You don't know? How could you not know? You live there! You go to work everyday, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't pay attention."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

After she asked me four more times and I answered with, "No," four more times, she finally stopped, fell back into the seat, and pouted. She pulled her feet up and wrapped her arms around her knees, locking her fingers together. She hid her face in her arm.

"Humph."

I laughed.

She peeked out from her arm, then looked up. She was smiling at me.

"What?" I asked. Her small smile made me laugh harder.

"You. Laughing."

I abruptly stopped and faced the road.

She smiled widely. "I like when you laugh. I bet you don't laugh much anymore."

I shrugged, suddenly cold and willing myself not to speak.

"I bet you used to laugh a lot..." she sighed.

I shrugged again.

"You should laugh more."

The radio was off then, and an uncomfortable silence overcame the car. I could feel her eyes watching me for a moment, then she looked away. I didn't look at her for a while. When I glanced over finally, she was staring out the window. It was dark out by now, and she could see my reflection in the window. She didn't turn around but she smiled. I could see her reflection and I couldn't help but smile back.

"You should smile more, too."

* * *

I was worried my sister would be at my house, but I didn't see her car, thank God. I pulled into the driveway. Piper jumped out and inspected the front yard and driveway. I took my time.

She was waiting at the front door for me. Slowly, I put the key in the lock and turned the knob. She waited patiently for me to open the door and go inside. She followed, quietly scanning her eyes around my home. She started to snoop around the living room while I put my keys and coat up. Suddenly Toby came running, barking and howling at us. Piper jumped but caught herself. She knelt down to Toby's height and let him sniff her, this new person in his domain. When he'd accepted her, he let her pet him.

"He's beautiful, what's his name?" Piper asked me, looking up. She giggled when Toby licked her face.

"Thanks. Toby."

"Toby..." she repeated in a high-pitched voice that made Toby's tail wag. "Hi, Toby..."

* * *

She followed me around the house, snooping in drawers and closets. She opened every cabinet in the kitchen, left them open, then ran around the kitchen, slamming them all shut. It was almost amusing. She opened the stove, the microwave, looked in the toaster, picked through the refrigerator and freezer.

"Are you quite finished?"

She jumped up, startled. It seemed she'd forgotten about me, forgotten that she was in _my_ house. She smiled this small smile that froze me in place. Even now I can see that little smile. "No."

She straightened up and ran past me, up the stairs and down the hall. I followed her. She was in an empty bedroom now, looking in the large walk-in closet. She twirled a little in the middle of the room and suddenly stopped, her back to me, facing the one window. "Wow, what a view," she said quietly.

I knew what she was watching, and I walked up behind her and peered out the window. She started laughing. The room was empty for a reason; it faced the bay window of my neighbor's house. They were a nice couple, don't get me wrong, but they were a little...off.

They collected things, a lot of things. All sorts of things. Anything. Everything.

They had a neon sign that read, "Topless Girls!", and a two-foot tall plastic gray squirrel piggy-bank. They had pictures and posters and signs and knickknacks and, well...stuff.

"Is that...?"

I looked at what Piper was pointing at. I leaned forward and squinted. "Yep."

You don't need to know what it was.

She stayed for a long time, until nine o'clock. I wasn't sure why I let her stay, why I didn't call the police or kick her out. After she searched my house and looked in every drawer and closet, raided my refrigerator, and questioned me about my life and job, she plopped down on the couch in the living room. She grabbed the remote control and turned the television on and started surfing through the channels.

"Satellite or cable?"

"Cable," I said.

She nodded as if she were thinking that over. "Yeah, cable's better. Satellite gets more channels, but it goes out when it rains."

I had to smile. She _was_ right.

My smile suddenly faded. "What are you doing here?"

I'd been standing against the wall in the living room, behind the couch, and she leaned back to look at me upside-down. She smiled.

"You looked like you needed a friend."


	5. Shelled Up

**Do you all have any idea how many people have asked me to update Payback? Wow. I'm thinking maybe I should! Well, actually, I'm having some trouble putting up the next chapter. First of all, I wrote the chapter out in class one day like a year ago (I like to plan ahead, lol) and then when we got the new house we packed everything into the garage. Well I haven't seen the papers since. And it's killing me! Second of all, I'm scared that when I put the chapter up, half of you will come to my house and murder me after reading it.**

**But for now, please enjoy chapter 5 of Fallen Angels (please! thank you!) ...after the reviews.**

**Paige Halliwell-Matthews - I haven't described her as bubbly, but I think I like it!**

**Alaii - Piper is a little annoying to Leo, isn't she?**

**psychokitty3 - My 8th grade literature/lang. arts teacher had flamingos around the room. Our "all-access pass" was a cartoon picture of a flamingo.**

**LeoPiper-Forever - I like writing it from Leo's POV. No one ever knows what's going on inside his head!**

**piperleo4eva - I like writing my characters how I want them to be, not with the personalities the show portrays. I mean, think about it, in the show, Piper's...kinda mean. And a little whiny, just a little. I like having her be more carefree and funloving.**

**GeminiPiper - The kitchen cabinet thing came from my own ideas, thank you! We just got a new house put in where we live and the kitchen has like thirty-some cabinets! (it's ridiculous, seriously!) So my mom plays "hide the..." and she puts something in a cabinet. Then she asks me, "Hannah, will you find me the..." whatever it is, and I have to look in every cabinet to find it! It's hilarious! Last Saturday was my b-day (14!) and we had a party. In the morning my friend tried to cook pancakes for everyone and we couldn't find the spatula because there were too many drawers! good times, good times...**

**Shima and Tempis - lol, I liked it too!**

* * *

She managed that night to make me talk a little about my life. I confessed to having a sister but wanting a brother before she was born. I told her a little about my somewhat overbearing parents and how desperately they want me to get married and have kids. I even told her about my three cousins, Matt, Brad, and Anna, the cousins I've stayed closest with.

I turned most conversations around about her, and she didn't mind talking about herself. I learned a lot.

Her mother died when she was young, her father walked out soon after that. She and her sisters were raised by their grandmother. After their Grams died, Prue, Piper's twin sister (I had to memorize that little fact), who was older by ten minutes (I also had to memorize that), took over a lot of the parenting roles. Piper seemed to be the most light-hearted of the bunch, the most whimsical. Her twin sister sounded like a hard worker, a devoted wife and mother. Her younger sisters Paige and Phoebe sounded a little more like Piper—carefree, just enjoying life. She was close to all of her sisters, and even lived with Phoebe. Paige was still in college and Phoebe had just graduated. Prue lived in the manor that the girls all grew up in. Piper and Phoebe rented an apartment across town. Paige lived in a dorm with two roommates.

If I had asked where it all started I would have gotten her life story.

She certainly didn't seem to mind coming into my house for four hours. She didn't seem uncomfortable at all. Actually, I was the uncomfortable one. She just came in and made herself at home. If I'd had the spare bedroom fixed up she probably would have stayed the night.

She didn't though. She left around nine, like I said, saying her sister would be worried. She also said that she would be back. I was sure to believe her this time.

I was surprised with myself, really. Why didn't I...call the police and report a stalker or tell her to go away and leave me alone? Why did I let her into my office, into my _home_?

I didn't know why. There was just something about her...Something...

Instead of sitting around wondering, I went to bed. I woke up around 9:30AM. It was a Saturday, so it didn't matter. I let Toby out and got him to chase the cat across the street. He took off out of the front yard like a bullet and chased the cat to the end of the block before I called him back in. I poured him a bowl of dog food into his dish in the kitchen. He just stared at it. I knew he was saying, "What, only this dry food? Come on, Man, gimme a little more credit." He didn't usually get just dry dog food, I usually heated up some Ramen noodles or soup or leftovers for him, but today I just didn't feel like it. For myself, I settled on toast. I wasn't all that hungry, anyway.

I sighed.

"What now?" I hadn't realized I'd said it out loud until Toby looked up at me. "What?"

His mouth opened and a huge tongue came rolling out to one side. The corners of his mouth literally turned up into a big smile. "Check your dish," I said, and he immediately turned back to the food.

I had to smile.

* * *

I lazed around the house most of the day, did the dishes and a couple of loads of laundry. After that I flopped on the couch. Toby, who had been either following me around or playing in the backyard barking at the neighbors' dogs all day, hopped up and curled up beside me, putting his head on my leg. 

"Good dog," I said quietly, petting him. His tail started flopping against the arm of the couch. I looked at him. He didn't lift his head but he looked at me. "Good boy," I said, a little more enthusiasm in my voice. His tail flopped harder and started wagging. I smiled.

I decided to call Ashley, see what was up with her. She answered a little out of breath. "Hello?"

"Hey Ash."

"Leo! What's up?"

"Not much..." I heard her breathing hard. "What're you doing?"

"Um, nothing...It's uh..." She held her hand over the speaker on her phone and shouted, "Fine! You win!" To me she said, "Alyssa's other daughter came over and we were playing tag."

"You're always busy."

"You're not?"

"Not today...Had a strange night anyway..."

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

"I, uh…met this girl—" I started.

"Oh—my—God."

"What? No! No, no, no!"

"Oh. Oh, God, you scared me, Leo."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So who is she?"

"Well...She kinda...came up to me in a restaurant and just started following me everywhere...She got in my car and came home with me, too."

"Creepy."

"Yeah, kinda...She seemed okay...She said she'd be back. She left here around nine-ish...She loves to talk. I think she just needs a friend. She lives in town, or so she says," I explained.

"Sounds like a stalker. Watch your back, she might shoot you," she said, but I could tell she was joking.

"Aren't you supportive…" I mumbled.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I'll bring flowers to your funeral."

* * *

Piper didn't lie; she showed up around seven. She wanted to go out. I didn't really have a choice, because she pulled me out and walked me down the street. She let go of my arm when I swore not to run away. 

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"Swear?"

"Yes, yes! I swear!"

"Okay..." She unwrapped her hand from mine and we walked down the street. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" she asked, running ahead of me and twirling a little, throwing her head back.

Her hair was down and she was wearing a blue and white light-but-long skirt that flowed around her knees as she twirled. Her denim jacket was buttoned up and she held her arms out and she spun in the grass.

She was beautiful. She stunned me speechless.

I checked myself.

We walked around the local parks and talked about past relationships, about our favorite foods and places we wanted to travel. I found her easy to talk to, but I didn't tell her much. She and I both agreed that we loved and wanted to visit Spain someday, and we agreed that bratwurst were better than hot dogs.

We ended up at a nearby elementary school playground. She was sitting on a merry-go-round. "Spin me!"

I shook my head.

"Come on! Please!"

I couldn't refuse her. I spun the merry-go-round fast enough for her to lose her balance and grab one of the rails when she tried to stand up. She laughed and I couldn't help but join her.

It was probably ten o'clock by then. She was lying in the grass now, staring up at the stars that were coming out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the moon was almost full.

"C'mere," she said quietly, looking up at me.

I was still standing. I moved over to her.

"No, I mean, lay down."

I laid on my back opposite her, our heads almost touching.

She sighed. "I tried to count the stars once...There're just too many of them..."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think everyone's tried."

She agreed. There was silence for a moment, in which we both tried to count the stars. "I got three hundred forty-two," she said after a moment.

"I got six hundred seventy-two trillion."

She laughed.

There was silence again.

When Piper spoke again, it was quiet, a whisper. "Leo?...What happened that made you so...cold? I mean, I know you weren't always like this. I mean, you had to have been fun once…I mean _more_ fun," she added quickly.

I took in a deep breath. Could I really tell her?

"Please tell me," she pleaded.

I took another breath. "About a month and a half ago..." I stopped. I wasn't ready to tell the story. Not yet.

"What? What happened?" She rolled onto her stomach to look at me. I got a glimpse of her face and her hair from upside-down.

I waved a hand in the air, staring up at the stars. "I went through...a...really, really bad breakup..." I said.

She laughed. "That's it? God, how many of those have I gone through..." She fell onto her back again.

"My girlfriend of about seven months cheated on me with my best friend, got pregnant, and miscarried. And then she was asking to get back together with me while she's living with the man she cheated with."

Piper stopped laughing. "Oh." She was quieted, subdued. "I'm sorry," she said, rolling onto her stomach again.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well..." I held a hand in the air to help me count the stars. I didn't expect it, but she wrapped her hand around mine.

"I really am sorry. I didn't know...That would've killed me," she whispered, and I didn't have to see her face to know she was telling the truth.

* * *

We made our way back to my house. It was then that I realized she didn't have a car. "Did you walk here?" 

She smiled. "No, I took a cab. My car's in the shop."

I nodded. "Oh."

We got to my door. "Can I come in?" she asked quietly. I knew she had been somewhat subdued, if not humbled, after finding out why I was "so cold". I shrugged. She smiled. "Thanks." She followed me inside, made her way to the living room, and sat on the couch. She grabbed the remote without any question and turned the TV on. She started flipping through the channels. "So that's why you were trying to get rid of me that day we met?" she asked, turning her head to see me come into the living room after getting a drink.

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. She seemed to understand.

Her playful demeanor soon returned and she was messing with me again. I had been sitting on the Lay-Z-Boy, almost falling asleep but trying not to, when she came and sat on the arm of the chair. I opened one eye and looked at her. She was watching the television. "What?" I asked.

She shrugged then, and slid down the arm of the chair, falling on top of me. I pushed her off and moved to the couch. She fell back into the back of the chair and sighed. "Humph."

There was silence for a few moments. Piper had the remote control and was flipping through the channels.

"Will you settle on something already?" I said, with a little more curtness than I had meant. She seemed to understand, and didn't get upset.

"Jerry Springer's on," she mentioned.

"It doesn't matter."

She changed it to Jerry Springer and left it there for a while. She laughed and cheered with the crowd and I was silent. I had nothing to say, at least, not right now.

At the commercial break I spoke up. "Why are you still here?"

Piper smiled. "You've asked me that before."

"And you said—"

"You look like you need a friend."

I recalled her exact words from the day before. "You said it in past tense then," I noted.

"Well that was then. Now I think you still need a friend."

"Oh, and you think you're that friend?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yep. Whether you like it or not." After a moment she added, "You're an angel, I don't have to know you long to realize that. You've just fallen off the path and now I think you need a little saving..."

I said nothing.

"You know," she continued, "you're all...shelled up. You need to get out and enjoy life."

"A month ago I had no life to enjoy."

"And now?"

I shrugged.

"Life isn't all so bad...You said you have a sister, that's something. You seem to get along well with your assistant..."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"You're just so shelled up. It's almost like you're asking for sympathy but you refuse to take it from anybody."

"I don't want sympathy."

"Then what do you want?" she asked. It made me think.

"I don't know."

"Well I know what you need."

I decided to hear her out. "What do I need?"

"A friend. You need to have some fun. You need to go out with your friends, enjoy life."

"I have friends, we went out a couple weeks ago."

"That was two weeks ago. What about now? Come on, it's Saturday night! There's gotta be some action on the town _somewhere_. This _is_ San Francisco, after all."

"I don't think so..."

"Come on..."

"Piper..."

She stopped and smiled.

"What?"

"My name," she sighed.

"Yes, that's your name."

"No, I mean you've never said my name, except when we first met." She smiled again and cocked her head slightly. "I like the way it sounds when you say it."

"Whatever," I said, standing up. "And we didn't _meet_, you came up to me." I headed for the back door.

She stood up and followed. "Yeah, because you were looking all down and out! You needed some cheering up! Now admit it," she called after me, "you like my company. You don't say you do, but you _do_!" she yelled as I went outside. She followed. "You may not even realize it, but you do need a friend, maybe more."

"I don't want a relationship. Not right now." I got on the hammock in my backyard.

"Maybe that's not what you need! Maybe you don't need a relationship for anything like that. I never said you _did_ need one. Hell, I don't want a relationship either. I need a friend, too. Everybody does. But I'm here to help you."

"What, were you sent from God?" I snapped, waving a hand in the air. She was standing behind me on the porch. "Did a little birdie tell you to come find me? 'Oh, Leo needs a friend. Go annoy him.' Is that what it said?"

She did this little kid stomp as she made a loud annoyed noise. "You know something? You are so damn stubborn and cold from your own damn breakup that you can't even realize that there's still some good in this world! Not everything is gonna cheat you out and play you over, Leo. I bet your sister wouldn't, Sarah wouldn't! Damn it, I wouldn't either!"

We were quiet for a few seconds.

"Fine, if you want to be an ass about it, then be an ass! You can call me when you're ready, when you want to talk. It hurts, Leo, I know it hurts, but it's _going to_ hurt! That's _life_!" Her voice dropped. "Here," she said, walking up to me and handing me a piece of paper, "that's my cell number. You call me when you are ready, okay?"

I didn't say anything. We sounded like an old married couple fighting.

"Call me."

That was all she said before she left. I heard her shoes on the floor as she walked inside, through the house, and closed the front door behind her. I wasn't sure how she got home. She must have found a way to manage.

* * *

I pinned her phone number onto my refrigerator with a magnet. For two days I didn't think about it...At least, I tried not to. Every time I passed through the kitchen, however, I glanced at it. 

Tuesday afternoon, I decided to call. She answered within three rings.

"I knew you'd call."

"How'd you know it was me."

"You're the only Unknown Number I know."

I smiled slightly. Saturday night, she had made me realize that maybe there was some coming back from what had happened. I had spent the last two days thinking hard about it. Now I thought I was ready to talk.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"You already know."

"You told me what happened, that's all. I want to know more."

"You wouldn't care."

"The hell I wouldn't. I care about you," she said.

I wasn't sure of what to say. How could you know someone for three days and suddenly care about them? I figured it was possible. But we weren't even friends...Were we?

"I'll tell you what, meet me at the park at six, okay?"

"...Okay."

"I'm serious. I'll be there."

"...So will I."

* * *

I walked to the park at six and saw that Piper was there already, sitting on the merry-go-round. She was looking at the ground and pushing the merry-go-round back and forth with her feet. She looked up at me when I reached her. She smiled. 

"Hi."

I barely returned it. I was curious to see what she would ask of me, what she would want or say. She patted the spot beside her on the merry-go-round. Instead of sitting beside her, I sat on the other side of the merry-go-round. She was out of my sight and I was out of hers.

"You're strange," she said with a laugh.

"Thanks, I think."

"Anytime."

We were quiet. There was no one else in the park.

"What was her name?" Piper asked quietly.

I sighed. "Monica."

"Monica what?"

"Monica Perkins."

"I don't know the name..."

"Count your blessings," I said, making Piper laugh.

"I will, then...What was your friend's name?"

"Joe."

"I don't know anyone named Joe," Piper thought aloud. "So you were dating for seven months?" she asked.

"Almost eight."

"And you didn't know...?"

"Of course I didn't know she was cheating. One day she told me she was pregnant. Then she let me think it was my baby—"

"It might've been," Piper cut in.

I nodded. "Maybe...Maybe not."

Piper was silent for a few seconds. "...So then what happened?"

"After a week or so...she told me...She said she had been having an affair with Joe for two months and that she didn't know if the baby was mine or his."

"You had two things to deal with at once."

"Yeah."

"What did you do?"

"I left her, kicked her out of my house."

"She was living with you? In the house you're in now?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Oh."

"Yeah...When she said she was pregnant...we talked about getting married..."

"Married?"

I nodded. "We told our parents."

"You were officially engaged?"

"No, but they knew we were thinking about it."

"I think I'd rather have the spontaneous proposal," Piper said. "You know, like, on bended knee. I think I'd like that better than just talking about it some rainy morning."

"Ha."

"Hey," Piper warned. "Watch it. A girl needs a dream."

I sighed. "After she told me, I asked her whose baby it was...She said she didn't know. Not a week after she left, I got a call from the hospital saying that she was in the ER. When I got there, I saw Monica in a room crying. I asked her what happened and she told me she miscarried. The doctor's said she was under too much stress."

"No kidding," Piper snorted.

"Joe showed up there, too..."

"Did you guys fight?"

We hadn't moved from our spots on the merry-go-round. My back was still to her. "Yeah, we fought."

"What did Monica have to say?"

"...She told us to stop, and when it came down to it...We were both beside her bed. Then I realized what was happening and I left and went into the waiting room. After Joe came into the waiting room we fought again, but it didn't get too physical...I went back into Monica's room alone and told her I didn't want to see her or talk to her again. I left."

"Then what?"

"She started calling me a month or so ago...Said she wanted to make up, get back together. I saw her in my office two weeks before I met you. I haven't seen her since, and I haven't talked to her, thank God..."

I'd been looking down with my eyes closed and when I looked up, Piper was standing right in front of me.

"What?" I said.

"Come on. Let's go have some fun."

I looked at her. She had listened to my story, and now I could see what she was doing. She didn't like to confront anything hard for her. I thought I had her figured out now. She hated difficult situations. That was why she was so playful and why she never talked about her own bad times. She was probably legally depressed because of that, but it seemed to be working for her.

"Why?" I asked instead of saying anything I'd just figured out.

"Because. You need to stop thinking about Monica right now. Burn all of her photos and memories later. Can we have some fun now?"

* * *

**Okay, that was a long chapter, I think. In Chapter 6, I'll show you that Piper's life isn't picture-perfect either.  
Coming up: Chapter Six-Tragedy  
****Ooh...Ahh...**

**Hope you liked!**


	6. Tragedy

We spent the next two weeks seeing each other almost every day. She called a lot, and sometimes when I left my office building she was standing on the steps, or sometimes she was waiting for me at the park.

She got to be a pretty good friend. She was annoying, but I really didn't mind the company, and she was always there if I needed her for something.

She spent most of her spare time at my house. She never mentioned a job, but I assumed she had one. She must have been bored at home, though, because for some reason my house seemed to be a jungle of fun for her.

She liked to come over at bad times, like when she had a fight with one of her sisters. She'd never come over when my sister or friends were there or anything like that, but she came over at midnight once or twice, and at seven in the morning on a Saturday once. I'd been out with my friends the night before and I had a bad hangover, which just gave her a big laugh.

Once she started knocking on my door at three in the morning.

Three fifteen in the morning, actually...

* * *

When I got to the door, she was waiting patiently on the front porch.

"What do you want?"

She sighed. "My sister's been out with her boyfriend all night and I'm dead bored. She'll be back home tomorrow around lunchtime...I think. Who knows, she spends all her extra time with him..." She paused a second. "And God knows what they're doing right now..." she added with a shudder.

"You're complaining because she spends all of her time there?"

She considered this, then understood what I was getting at. "I get bored."

"You spend all your time here."

"Not all of it," she said, sounding offended, but I knew she wasn't.

"It's three in the morning," I informed her, just in case she wasn't sure.

She shrugged. "Wanna hang out?"

I opened my front door to let her inside. She made herself welcome, played with Toby a little bit, then flopped down on the couch with him. "Got anything to eat?"

"Why?"

"'Cause Phoebe and I haven't gone to the grocery store in a week, and there's nothing to eat. We've been eating bread and water."

We talked for a while, until at least five in the morning. Piper managed to find the remote control and found one of her favorite movies, Erin Brockovich, on TV. We talked through most of the movie. We were quiet for a moment when she suddenly blurted out a question.

"So have you ever been in a threesome?"

I did a double take at her words. "What?"

She waved a hand. "A threesome. You know, two guys and a girl, two girls and a guy..."

"I know what that is. I was just...surprised that you asked it."

She shrugged. "I've never been in one. I've never been with a girl, either. Except, there was this one time, when I got really drunk on Spring Break on my second year in college. I had like, just turned twenty-one and my friends and I got really drunk and my friends and I played some kooky Truth-or-Dare game, but it didn't really go too far," she said casually.

"Um..." I tried to think of something to top that. "I dated twins once."

She smiled widely. "Oh my God, you did? What was that like?"

It was actually an interesting story, I thought. My friends teased me about it a lot. "Well, I was dating a girl and I didn't know she was a twin. We went out on our...fifth or sixth date...I took her out to dinner and we went back to my place...The next morning, after she went home, I checked my messages and found a message from the girl. She said she was sick and couldn't make it that night. I was totally confused so I called her back and she said she never went out with me that night. I asked her who that was then and she said she had a twin sister."

"Oh my God, you slept with the other sister?"

I nodded.

Piper almost screamed. When she finally calmed down, she asked, "So how many girls have you been with?"

I sighed. "The twins, but only once with each...There was my high school sweetheart, Amanda Hayes...Kayla Perkington...and Monica..."

"Five girls?" Piper asked.

I shrugged. "It was supposed to be four. Hindsight's twenty-twenty, I should take Monica out and make it three."

She laughed. "I've been with four men. Well, one of them was my best friend and we were together for a couple years, and on and off through most of college. He was the one I lost my virginity to. He actually died in a car accident a couple years ago..."

"...I'm sorry," I said honestly.

She shrugged me off. "I don't talk about it much, and I don't wanna talk about it now." She continued with, "There was a man, a wonderful man, named Caleb...Caleb Robinson...I loved him...Then there was an old friend of mine, Jacob Green. Oh, and there was an man I didn't know who um...took advantage of me, and that was all four." She blurted out the last part quickly.

"Wait, what?"

She shrugged. "Nothing, nothing..." She stood up and walked into my kitchen. I jumped up and followed her. She was drinking some water when I found her.

"Piper...What did you say?"

She held up one finger to tell me to wait while she finished downing the entire glass of water. She set the glass down on the counter. "I said he took advantage of me, that's all I said."

"Piper..."

She pushed passed me and headed for the door. I caught her. "No, let me go!" she said, struggling against me. "Let me go!"

I didn't let her go. I'd heard what she said loud and clear and I knew she wasn't lying about that fourth man. I finally got a hold of her wrists and turned her around. She tried to beat me, but I restrained her. It looked like she was crying.

"Let me go!" she was shouting, struggling to get away.

She finally stopped her struggle, and it was then I noticed she really was crying.

"Piper, tell me what happened," I said.

She shook her head and sobbed.

"Piper, tell me."

She sobbed again. "It was after my friend died, in the car accident!" she yelled at me, beating her fists once against my chest. She struggled again and I finally let her go. She took a step back. "I was walking home a few weeks after his funeral and it was raining! Some guy came out of the alley and grabbed me! He pulled me into the alley and raped me, okay?" she shouted. "He raped me and left me in the alley all alone! He left me alone and some bum found me and called the police! Are you happy now? Are you happy?"

I was stunned. I didn't say a word. I watched as she slid down the wall in her despair and cried, pulling her knees to her chest and hiding her face in shame. I suddenly snapped to and immediately ran to her. I knelt down by her side and put my arms around her. She pulled away at first, fought me through her tears, but she soon gave in and let me hold her. I scooped her up in my arms and carried her upstairs to my bedroom. I laid her on the bed but she didn't let me go.

I got her to lie on the bed and she pulled me down to her. She lay on her side next to me and curled up against me. It wasn't long before her sobs turned to sniffles, then there was nothing but her quiet breathing, interrupted by a quiet cough in her sleep. I covered her in a light blanket and sat back to watch her sleep. She sniffed every now and then but she didn't wake up.

I'd only just met her, but she already seemed like such a close friend. An annoyance, yes, but a good friend nonetheless. I was surprised that she'd opened up to me so freely, but as I watched her sleep I realized I shouldn't have been surprised...

I had no idea.

I didn't know that she went through that sort of trauma. Her best friend died and then she was pulled into some alley by God-Knows-Who. I let out a breath of air and ran a gentle hand down her cheek, just tracing her cheekbone. I brushed some hair from her eyes. She sighed in her sleep.

I wondered how she kept up her happy-go-lucky spirits after going through something like that. If she'd been through that already, I assumed that there were other horrible events in her life as well. But how did she stay so...fun-loving and carefree?

I had no idea.

* * *

The next morning, I woke early, around 7:30AM. I had slept on the couch but I still slept well. The first thing on my mind when I woke was Piper. Strange, I thought, but then as I thought about it, it wasn't that strange. She had, after all, had a major breakdown and slept here overnight. Why shouldn't that be the first thing on my mind?

I went upstairs to my room, where she was sleeping. I opened the door quietly and looked inside. She was lying on her side, her back to me, so I figured she was asleep. Toby was sleeping at the foot of the bed. He looked up and stared at me. I nodded at him to go back to sleep. He padded his feet out on the bed, stretched out, then put his head back down.

I smiled to myself. That dog really did like Piper.

I took another glance at her, and, assuming she was asleep, closed the door. I had no idea she was facing the opposite direction so that I wouldn't see her crying.

I went downstairs and made breakfast, biscuits and gravy. I made myself a bowl and left the stove on low to keep the food warm in case Piper wanted some when she woke.

I was reading the newspaper when I heard a voice behind me.

"The police said I was lucky."

It scared me so that I jumped around. I saw Piper behind me, hugging herself. I noticed she was wearing one of my long t-shirts, a football jersey from a local high school team. It reached down just above her knees, which was good because I knew she didn't have pants on or shorts to wear.

"...I hope you don't mind...It was laying out and it was clean, so..."

I shook my head. "No, no, it's okay."

Her hair was down and a little messy from sleeping, and some of it was falling over her shoulder. Her nose was red and so were her eyes. She was rocking gently back and forth, standing in the kitchen doorway.

It hit me that this woman I'd just met was standing in my kitchen wearing, one of my shirts, having just woken up after sleeping in my bed. I couldn't help but realize what an outsider would think, looking at this situation. I took another look at her. Even though she looked as if she'd been crying, she really was beautiful.

"You hungry?" I asked, covering my thoughts.

She shook her head.

"Sit down," I offered, motioning to the seat across from me. She didn't sit, but when I had my back to her she started speaking again.

"They said I was lucky because I didn't get sick, no STDs...And I wasn't pregnant."

I turned back around slowly and stood up. She wouldn't make eye contact with me. She kept looking past me to the wall or table or floor.

"Piper," I said quietly, trying to sound calm.

She started shaking. "It was two years ago. I never went into therapy for it, I don't like to talk about it...I couldn't see his face so they couldn't get a picture or description...But I can hear him...I hear him everyday, in my mind...And I remember his eyes, all I saw were his eyes...They were gray...Just gray...The police never found him...For all I know, that bastard is still out...running the streets." She shook her head again. "I haven't really...dealt...with it...I guess..."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I just took her in my arms and held her. She fell right into me and started crying. She'd said she never dealt with it, so I assumed she never thought about it or cried about it.

Maybe now was a good time to do that.

* * *

She had said she didn't feel good and wanted to go home. She said her sister had her car and that she'd walked to my house the night before. I really had no choice but to believe her. I told her that it was fine, I could take her home. The truth was that somewhere inside of me, I wanted her to stay. But I knew she wouldn't. She changed into her old clothes and went into the living room to wait for me. I came downstairs.

"You ready to go?"

She nodded.

"Okay, come on."

She stood up and walked slowly in front of me to my car. I opened the door for her, helped her in, and closed the door. Then I went around to the other side of the car and got in.

"You're gonna have to direct me," I said, starting the engine.

She nodded again. "Eighteen-twenty-one Walnut Street," she took a deep, calming breath, "Maple Grove Apartments." Another breath. "I'm Apartment Complex Seven," she took one more breath. "Room Twenty-nine."

"Eighteen-twenty-one, seven, twenty-nine. Got it." I nodded, too.

Her eyes were closed by then, her head back on the seat of the car. The window was down and her hair was being blown about in the wind. She smiled.

I think she fell asleep on the way to her apartment. I didn't want to wake her when I pulled into the parking lot, and luckily she stirred when I pulled the keys out of the car.

"Oh," she said, glancing at a blue Jeep Liberty, "Phoebe's here."

"That's her car?"

She nodded.

I got out and went around to open her door. She slipped out of the car and waited for me to close the door. I thought she was going to walk up by herself, but she looked up at me and asked in a small voice, "Will you walk with me?"

I couldn't tell her no.

Gently, she reached for my hand. She wrapped her hand around mine slowly, as if registering my reaction. I knew she had released some large barrier in her life and had finally broken down about her traumatic encounter, and I didn't want to hurt her, so I let her take my hand.

I remembered what apartment number she'd said it was and asked what floor she was on. "Two," she said.

I led her up to the second floor and found Room 29. She stopped in front of her door and dug through her purse for keys. She stuck the key in the lock, but then she hesitated. She left the key in the lock and turned to look up at me.

"Thanks," she whispered.

I nodded. "It was the least I could do."

"For now it's the most," she said. "...I'll...call you..."

"Sure." I nodded again.

Just then the door opened. Piper and I both jumped. A woman I guessed was Piper's younger sister Phoebe stood in the doorway in a camisole and pajama bottoms. Her just-past-shoulder-length dark blonde hair was tousled slightly and she yawned.

"Piper, where ya been?" she asked.

Piper glanced at her sister, looked her over, and asked, "Are those my pants?"

Phoebe shrugged.

Piper shot her sister a menacing look that made Phoebe laugh, then she turned back to me. "Thanks again," she said.

"Anytime."

"Keep that shirt for me, would ya?" she asked, forcing a small smile onto her pretty face. "I liked it."

"Sure."

Phoebe made a noise, and Piper glanced at her for a second then returned her attention to me. "Like I said, I'll call you..."

"Okay."

She turned away and let my hand go. I watched her walk past her sister, who winked at me, and go inside the apartment. Phoebe followed her sister in and closed the door. I heard them talking for a moment.

"Who was that?" Phoebe asked.

"A friend."

"A friend you stayed all night with?" Phoebe sounded as if she were teasing.

I could hear Piper's loud sigh. "I didn't sleep with him."

Their voices faded away and I walked out of the building to my car and went home.

* * *

**So now you can see that Piper's life isn't all hunky dory either!  
But she's still so happy.  
They call that DENIAL! (ahem...sorry)**

**review! lol  
****:-D**


	7. Annoying Little Sister

Okay um…Well…It's an update! Yay! _joy_

Uh, the chapter after this is a little bit more of a filler chapter, but it just kinda shows a little more of Piper' fun side (not that we don't all see how _fun_ I've made her…I think I made Piper's character a little too much like me…Oh well!)

But anyway, in this chapter, Piper gets to meet Leo's sister! And Ashley has some big news, too…

Okay, as for reviews:

Alaii: Yeah, Piper is pretty stubborn…But Leo's stubborn too, you gotta give him that much.

Paige fan: That's all I get is an "aw"? Come on! J/k, at least I got something.

Emo-Dreams: I'm in denial still! For more than one reason! And it _is_ a little bit of fun, if you know how to play the Guilt cards with the Wild Card of Denial…Okay that made…no sense. And I believe you when you say that you're NOT the one who raped Piper…How do I know? Well because it's a story! From my head! lol! My friend has hazel eyes but they turn gray sometimes and sometimes they're silver…She calls me when it happens. It's so funny. And btw, the puppy-dog eyes worked! Here's your update!

Alyssa Warren: Um…I don't really go into the details of everything…This is more of just a "fall in love, happily ever after…kinda" story. I may go back and add that stuff someday, but for now I can tell you that Piper doesn't mention her friend. And yeah, Prue lives in the manor.

Shima And Tempis: You're the second one to comment on denial…lol, I think… ;-)

scullymulder: Everyone should be thanking you for this update! You're the one who IMed me and said "update!" a few days ago. And after I read your review that said "when are you gonna update?" I thought…"hmm…I should update." So thank you!

* * *

It seemed to me that Piper was turning into my new little sister. She got over her breakdown almost too quickly and became annoying again. Very annoying. So annoying, in fact, that I considered her my sister. She raided my refrigerator, sometimes took naps on my couch, looked through every desk and dresser drawer in my house, and was sometimes critical, sometimes teasing, of any girl I looked at "in a funny way". She said it was good that I was "looking". 

She sounded like all my other friends. And my sister.

* * *

Piper did end up meeting my sister one day. It was a few weeks after I dropped her off at her house. She started spending even more time at my house. I figured she was bored. Very, very bored. 

Ashley had been over with Michael for a celebration dinner. Ashley was pregnant...and terrified to tell our parents. She had called and said she wanted me to cook dinner for her and Michael because they had something to tell me.

I thought I was going to have a heart attack when they told me. I'm not that much older than my sister, only a few years, but I couldn't see my baby sister having a baby. She was still a kid in my book. I had to learn to remember that she was in love and married and had been married for a couple of years. Their anniversary was coming up, too. What a present.

"What are you going to tell Mom and Dad?" was the first thing I asked.

Ashley shrugged.

"Dad'll have a heart attack."

She laughed.

"I'm serious."

"I know. This is a total surprise. I mean, we're happy, and I know we're really young but still, I think we can do this."

I nodded. I knew they could.

We were getting ready to eat when I heard the doorbell ring. I looked down at the table, ignoring it, knowing it was Piper. It rang again. After the third ring, Michael looked at me.

"Aren't you gonna get that?"

"Nope." I shook my head.

"Who is it?" Ashley asked.

"Remember creepy girl?"

"The one who follows you? That's her, you think?"

I nodded. "I know."

We could hear Piper knocking on the door. "Hello?" she called soon after. "Leo, this isn't funny, I know you're in there, your car is in the driveway! I know there's another car out here, it'd better not be some girl's car!"

"Maybe you should let her in," Ashley suggested.

"No, if I ignore her she might go away."

Ashley laughed. "Leo, answer the door."

I groaned, but stood up. Piper was still banging on the door. "Le—" I opened the door. "Oh. Hi. Jeez, about time, too. What's goin' on, something smells good..." She wandered in. I didn't even try to stop her, I knew it was useless. "Oh, you have guests...Okay, so that explains the car..."

Ashley stood up. "You must me Piper."

Piper shook her hand. "Yes, you must be..."

"Ashley. Leo's little sister."

"Oh, that _does_ explain the car. Sorry."

Ashley smiled. "That's okay, I would have thought the same."

Piper smiled back, then noticed Michael. "And you are..."

"Michael, Ashley's husband."

"Oh, nice to meet you."

They shook hands. I watched silently. Ashley brought me back to earth by saying, "Well, Leo, I think she's a lot nicer than you described her." I could only laugh.

Piper looked up. "You talk about me? What did you say?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much."

"Nothing good, I guess," Piper muttered. Then she smiled.

"Hey, Piper, why don't you stay for dinner," Ashley suggested.

"Ashley..." I started. "I don't think Piper wants to stay..."

"Oh, don't be silly." Ashley winked at Piper, who nodded. "I bet she's hungry."

"Starving," Piper agreed. I glared at her and she smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be good," she teased. I knew she was having way too much fun with this.

"I don't think Ashley really knows what she's talking about, you know...Hormones..." I tried, wanting Piper to go. A part of me, however, wanted her to stay, but I beat that part into oblivion.

"Oh, you're pregnant?" Piper said, catching on quickly. I had to admit, subtly didn't get past her.

"Yeah," Ashley said almost shyly.

"Oh, congratulations!"

Ashley and Piper actually hugged, and Piper shook Michael's hand again. Piper and Ashley went into the dining room to sit. Michael stared at me. I looked at him.

"What?"

He just laughed. "She's funny."

"So's your wife."

"Hey, is it my fault if you can't control your girlfriend? No."

"She's not my girlfriend..."

"Whatever..."

We walked into the dining room.

* * *

Piper was actually pretty good through dinner. She seemed very interested in stories of my past. She kept asking Ashley to tell more stories. She liked the story of how I fell off my bike and broke my arm. After dinner she stuck around and talked with Ashley. They sat in the living room and talked. I eavesdropped a little and noticed that Piper asked about me a lot. She didn't know what she was getting herself into, because once Ashley got started on talking, she didn't stop. It would take a large show of force to slow her down. Piper was in for it. Funny thing was, she didn't seem to mind. Actually, Piper seemed to love to talk as much as Ashley did. 

"At least they get along," Michael told me. We were sitting on the back porch with a couple drinks. We were drinking for two different reasons, though. Michael was getting over his father-to-be jitters and trying to deal with Ashley being pregnant. I was drinking to deal with that...and Piper. I'll admit she wasn't that bad, but for some reason I didn't like the idea of her sitting in the living room talking with my sister.

"Right," I said, trying to look at the good side of all of this.

"She seems just fine."

"_Seems_."

Michael laughed. "Whatever, man, take what you got, I say."

"I don't have her, she has me."

"Whatever that means..."

"She's the little sister I never wanted."

"You have a little sister."

"The other one."

"The retarded one?"

We both laughed. "No...The nine-year-old. The one who always asks easy questions and says 'why' all the time and follows you around."

"I had that little sister," Michael said.

"So did I. A long time ago."

"She's not _that_ bad..."

I was afraid they were sitting behind us, listening in. Piper might have been mad, I thought, if she caught me talking about her. I could see it like a movie scene, when I would turn around and Piper would be standing there and she'd run out and I'd never see her again...Then again..._No..._ I shook my head. "No, she's not...I don't mind her really...She just comes by without notice, knocks on my door at midnight, and bothers me at work. But that's all," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, well then."

We laughed again and toasted our drinks.

Ashley cleared her throat behind us. We turned around and saw her standing in the doorway of the sliding glass door. "You left the door open. You're letting the air conditioning out."

"Oh. Where's Piper?" I asked.

"Upstairs."

"Upstairs, why?"

"Something about some...football jersey...?" Ashley said as she came around to sit on the porch swing with me. Michael was sitting in the lawn chair I'd taken from one of my friends' backyards. She shrugged. "I don't know, she said she was going to steal it."

"Damn her." She was going upstairs to steal the football jersey she wore when she was here. "She'd better not take it."

"Why?"

"She wore it once before and liked it, that's all."

"Once before...in the morning, maybe?" Ashley inquired. She was smiling.

"Yeah..." I tried not to let on.

"She stayed here overnight?"

"She came over at three in the morning."

"She stayed here overnight?" Ashley asked again.

"Yes, but nothing happened."

"Where did she sleep?"

"In...my room, why?"

"And where did _you_ sleep?" She was just teasing now.

"Downstairs, on the couch."

"Of _course_ you did..." She giggled and pushed my shoulder.

* * *

Piper stayed long enough to let Ashley and Michael out. I noticed that she'd changed into the jersey. She congratulated Ashley and Michael again before they left, and walked them out. When they were gone, she came back inside. 

"What?" she asked when all I did was stare.

"What was that?"

"What?" she asked again.

"You...I don't know, you just..."

"I know, isn't it great?" She said, smiling. She skipped into the kitchen to get a drink. "You know, your sister is so nice!" she shouted from the kitchen. I followed her voice. "She really looks up to you," she added.

"I know."

"She said she wanted to tell your parents about the baby next week. She was scared."

"Has every right to be."

"But she's _really_ happy."

"I know."

Piper quieted for a second. "What, you aren't happy?" she asked softly.

"I am, it's just...She's my baby sister."

"She's not that much younger than you."

"So? She's my little sister."

Piper just smiled.

* * *

The next morning was Saturday and Piper came by again. She wanted to walk around downtown. Her excuse for annoying me again was that her sister was at her other sister's house and she was left home alone. 

"Don't you have a boyfriend to spend all your time with?"

"No, why?"

I shook my head. "Never mind..."

"So...What is it exactly you do? For work, I mean," she said, leaning on me as we walked down the sidewalk. I'd tried already to shrug her off, but she had her left arm locked around my right, eating the ice cream she bought from her right hand.

I smiled. We stopped. "See that building?" I pointed to a very tall mirrored building a few blocks over. It was towering over the other buildings so it wasn't hard to see at all.

She nodded. "I see it."

"Well I'm what goes on behind the scenes of that building. I keep everything running smoothly."

"Huh."

"Okay, see that bank?" I nodded to the bank across the street from us. She urged me to continue walking with her as I explained my job so we set off down the sidewalk once more. "Remember about seven months ago when the bank was freaking out because they claimed someone stole about five hundred thousand dollars?"

She nodded again.

"No one stole it."

"No?"

"They lost it."

"Nuh-uh."

I nodded. "They lost it. It was my job to help find it. See? I have to keep things running smoothly for everybody on the outside..."

She nodded, too. "Cool."

"What about you?" I asked.

"What _about_ me?"

"What do you do?"

"Me? I'm a failed porn star," she stated simply. A man we were passing turned around to stare for a second.

"What?"

She laughed. "I'm just joking. Actually, I don't have a job right now..."

"Okay, what _did_ you do?"

She shrugged. "All sorts of things."

"Like..." I figured if she could poke and prod me I could do the same to her.

"Uh, okay, let's see...There was the hairdressing job—That didn't work out...I was a bank teller, but I got in a fight with the manager...I _was_ working a desk job for a few months, but my boss was an asshole...I was—"

"Never mind," I cut her off.

She laughed.

* * *

After work, Piper came back to my house for dinner, claiming she had no food in the fridge at her own house. I didn't really believe her, but it didn't matter. After she ate, she asked for a ride home. She said that since she met my sister, I should meet hers, at least one of them. I half-heartedly agreed. I had met her sister Phoebe once before, but none of it had been formal. I didn't really have a choice, though, because moments later, Piper was dragging me off to my car. 

I remembered how to get to her apartment and followed her up the stairs again. She opened her door and held her arms out. "Welcome...to my humble home."

I had to smile. "Nice."

"Not as nice as yours, I know, but still...It's just for me and my sister, and we're hardly ever here anyway."

"Yeah, I know," I muttered, noting the fact that Piper was always at my place.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, knowing what it meant.

"Nothing."

She smiled. "Phoebe!" she shouted. "Pheebs!"

"What?" came the answer from another room.

Piper searched for her sister. "Ah ha, there you are." She dragged Phoebe out of her bedroom and into the living room. "Okay, I thought you guys should meet for real. I know the circumstances were different then, but now you can really meet." She held her sister's hand out to mine. "Phoebe, this is Leo. Leo, this is _my_ little sister, Phoebe. Not my baby sister, Paige—"

"Who's coming over today," Phoebe cut in.

"And not my twin—"

"That's Prue," Phoebe cut in again.

"Right."

"Nice to finally meet you," Phoebe said, shaking my hand. "I hear good things."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Piper smiled proudly. I wondered what she was so proud of.

Me?

**

* * *

Okay so no fluff really…And the next chapter is more of a filler, but I promise there is fluff to come. I was thinking about this story, and it really has no firm plot or problem or…anything. It's just a happy-go-lucky story about two people hooking up! But that's not bad! Right? **


	8. CCCD & When She's Alone

**Ahh! I _so_ didn't mean to wait this long! I'm so sorry! And btw, I'm getting Payback up in the next week or so hopefully. I had it written...and I LOST it! I cried. Seriously. It was great, and I lost it all. grr...Now I'm just pissed off...**

**So anyway, for making ya'll wait so long, I wanted to give you an early Hanukah present (yeah boi, the Jew is in the hiz-house! lol)...Er, two really:  
TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE!  
haha it's a Buy One, Get One Free deal...It's a Payless BOGO!**

**:-D  
Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough**

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

That's her favorite ice cream. I mean, absolute favorite. She'll buy a container of it and go through it and take out all the cookie dough pieces, all in one sitting. Then she'll roll them up into a big ball and eat the dough. Then she eats the ice cream. That's usually what she does, but sometimes she just eats it until she's full. She loves it.

She came by my house when I was headed out the door to get to the grocery store, since my fridge was empty (thanks to Piper).

"Where you goin'?"

"Grocery store." I closed the front door.

"Can I go?"

I looked at her car, in my driveway. She'd only just started driving over here. Usually she got a ride from her sister, claiming her car was "out of gas" or "in the shop". I always thought it was because she wanted me to take her home.

"Why?" I asked, glancing to see if her car was blocking mine. It wasn't.

"I'm bored."

"Bored," I echoed. I opened my car door. "You're always bored." I got in, closed the door, and rolled the window down. She was looking at me pitifully. I sighed. "Fine, get in." She giggled and ran around to the other side of the car and jumped in. I was reminded of when she first came over to my house after work.

* * *

At the grocery store she acted like a little kid. She would run off out of sight and come back with a box of cookies. She would hold them up for me to see and stick out her lower lip. "Please?" she would ask. I didn't always give in. 

I asked her to go find some frozen pizza, a quick dinner. She ran off in the direction of the frozen foods. I realized we probably looked like a couple shopping together. Correction, we probably looked more like an adult bossing around a little hyper girl. Actually, a lot of things we did made us seem like a couple. We weren't, I was clear of that. Was she? Of course she was. She never referred to me as her boyfriend, but as a good friend. That was perfectly fine with me.

She returned with two frozen pizzas, a bag of frozen raspberries, and a container of ice cream. "What's this?" I asked.

"My favorites."

"Ice cream and raspberries."

"Separate, of course. First of all, frozen raspberries are absolutely the _bomb_," she said as she put the stuff in the cart. She held up the ice cream. "Second of all, this is not just any 'ole ice cream, this is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough."

I nodded a little. "Okay..."

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it."

"I've heard of it. Never had it."

I thought she was going to die. "Oh—My—God. You've never had it before?"

I shook my head, not seeing the horror in it.

"You have _got_ to try it. Just _wait_ 'til we get home."

Home? As in her home or mine? She was calling my house home?

I tried not to think about it too much.

* * *

As it turned out, "home" _was_ my house. She took to calling it "home" from then on. Her house became "the apartment". She hardly ever stayed overnight, except once when she was stranded here, which was the day when we went to the grocery store. 

She'd been saving the ice cream, but the raspberries were gone. It was dark out and the movie we were watching was over. Earlier, Phoebe had called asking if she could use Piper's car for a weekend trip to Los Angeles. Piper had agreed to let Phoebe get a ride from Prue (Piper's twin) over to my house so that she could get Piper's car. Once Phoebe left with Piper's car, Ashley called saying that Michael had her car and she needed to get to the doctor for a check-up. I told Ashley that she could borrow my car, but only if she brought it back so I could bring her home. She agreed.

Then she forgot.

It was raining by then, a bad storm too. It'd looked like rain all week, but now it was really coming down hard. I was about to call Ashley to tell her I wanted my car back when a bolt of lightning flashed, the thunder booming directly after it. The lights flickered but stayed on. I waited a moment then picked up the phone. The lines were dead.

"Wonderful," I muttered.

"My cell has no reception..." Piper said, walking past me. She was already in pajamas, as if she just _knew_ she was going to stay. Or at least she planned on it.

"Mine either..."

So Piper and I were stranded at my house. I told her she could have my room and I'd sleep on the couch.

"No," she said, "I can sleep on the couch. It's a pull-out, right?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"Okay, then I just need a pillow and a blanket."

"Okay. You sure?"

She nodded.

"...Okay..."

* * *

When she was settled in on the mattress of the pull-out couch, with a blanket wrapped around her and a thick pillow behind her, she decided it was time to break out the ice cream. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed the container from the freezer and a spoon, and came running back. She jumped onto the bed and almost landed on me. (I was sitting on the other side of the bed.) 

She sat back against the pillows propped up behind her and pulled the blanket up again. "Okay, this is the magical Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. See the little chocolate chips?" she said, showing me and pointing to the chocolate chips. "And the cookie dough." She pointed.

"I see."

She ate a spoonful. "Now you try," she said, handing me the spoon.

I took it with some hesitation, but then did as she said.

"Well...?"

"Good."

"That's all? Oh my God, you are impossible!" She settled back into the pillows and ate her ice cream.

_How strange_, was all I could think. It was official; I didn't understand that woman.

* * *

I talked to Ashley a couple days later, right after she told our parents she was pregnant. They were ecstatic—overjoyed. Ashley had come over to my house _saying_ she just wanted to hang out, but I knew she wanted to talk about Piper. 

She _did_ seem to be the main subject.

"She likes you, you know."

"Well, she follows me around."

"No, Leo, I mean...as more than a friend."

"Huh?"

"Hello? You in there? She's _obviously_ got a thing for you..."

I shook my head. "No...She's just a friend."

"Whatever...You like her, too."

"Sure, I like her...She's a friend."

"You know what I mean, Leo."

"No, actually, I don't."

"Yes you do, you just won't admit it."

"What? I don't have a thing for her, if that's what you're saying."

Ashley suddenly seemed angry. "Leo, you stubborn-ass! Why can't you just admit that you like her?" she burst.

"I don't! She's just a friend! She just...follows me around!"

"For a reason! You need her!"

"No I don't! She's everything I'm not!"

"No, Leo! No she's not! She's everything you used to be."

Suddenly I was silent.

Ashley sighed. "She's everything you used to be...before Monica."

I wasn't ready for that. I knew it was true, but I had never admitted it to myself or even consciously thought it.

But she was right.

* * *

**Chapter Nine - When She's Alone**

I let Ashley's words sink in for another week. I didn't talk to Piper much, even when she came over. I knew she sensed something was wrong.

She was stranded at my house again a few days after Ashley struck some sense into me. She said she wanted to take a shower. I told her that was fine, so she went upstairs and headed down the hall toward the bathroom.

I changed in my room and listened to the water running down the hall. When I was dressed again, I went down the hall and stood in front of the bathroom door.

...Maybe Ashley was right...Maybe...

I heard soft humming coming from the other side of the door. I lifted my hand and rested it on the doorknob, ready to turn it. I hesitated, and decided to knock.

"Yeah?"

I opened the door and stepped inside. Steam was filling up in the room. "I, uh...You okay in there?" I asked dumbly.

"Um...Yeah...What do you want?" She was getting suspicious.

"Uh, brush." That was my excuse? A brush? Why was I even in there? Nevertheless, I grabbed a brush from the cabinet. "Got it, thanks."

"Uh, sure. I'll be out in a little bit."

"Okay." I left quickly.

Why did I go in there?

* * *

When she got out, she came into the kitchen to let me know. I looked up and caught my breath. She was standing in the doorway of the kitchen in just a towel, still wet, hair wet but combed out. A quick flash went through my mind of the towel falling. 

I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. She didn't seem to notice. "What do you need?"

"Um...clothes? Still got that jersey?" She grinned.

I nodded and walked out of the kitchen, for some reason getting a buzz when my jeans brushed up against her towel. She followed me up to my room and waited patiently as I got her the jersey she so liked. She had a pair of shorts, but claimed she didn't want to re-wear her tank top, at least not for bed. I knew she just wanted to wear the jersey.

I handed her the shirt and left the room to let her change. She came out a moment later and did a little twirl. I smiled.

"What?" she asked. "I love this shirt."

"I hardly wear it, you should keep it."

"I do. I keep it here." I smiled again. She did, too. "You know...Remember when I told you to smile more? Well you do...And I like it."

I decided not to comment.

* * *

I took her home the next day. 

"Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime."

"I'll, uh...change...so you can have your shirt back. I think I'd rather have it at your house, just in case," she said.

I nodded.

"I'll be right back," she almost whispered, turning to go into her bedroom. I noticed that she didn't close her door all the way. On impulse, I moved to look into her doorway. She'd given me the grand tour and I knew that there was a mirror across from her door. Now I could see her reflection in it. I should have looked away, but I didn't. Instead, I watched, against my better judgment.

She pulled the shirt off slowly, almost as if she knew I was watching and she wanted to tease me. She tossed the shirt onto her bed. I saw that she was wearing a black bra, and another buzz went through me, much like the one the night before in the kitchen, only stronger this time. She slipped the shorts off, revealing black panties to match the bra. I took in a slow breath and tried to calm myself. I walked away from her doorway as quietly as I could, and waited for her to come out of her bedroom.

What was wrong with me? Ever since Ashley talked to me I'd been acting different around Piper. Was Ashley right, I mean, _really_ right? Did Piper have a thing for me? Or more importantly, did _I_ have a thing for _her_?

"Leo?" Piper's voice snapped me back into reality. "Thanks for the ride," she repeated.

"Huh? Oh, sure."

There was an uncomfortable silence between us, not the first, but the first in a while. This one was different, though. This silence had more tension in it.

"Um...Here's your shirt," she said suddenly, handing me the jersey.

"Thanks."

As I walked out of the apartment building, I was ready to slap myself. What was going on? Something was definitely different now, but what? Something changed.

* * *

I went home and tried, _really tried_, not to think about it, but it was no use. My mind was on Piper the entire car ride home and through dinner. Toby barked and tried to play with me, he wanted to go outside and run and play, but I wasn't up to it. 

When he started running back and forth from the front door to me, I let him out to go to the bathroom. He ran outside, did his business, then came hopping back. I called him in, but he just ran up to me, nipped at my foot, and ran off into the front yard.

"Come on in," I called.

He didn't.

A sudden thought struck me. For some reason I needed to see Piper. Now.

"Wanna go for a ride?"

Toby had settled for sniffing the grass, and as soon as he heard me his head popped up and his ears stood up. He looked at me with his big eyes.

"Let's go for a ride," I said. I went in, grabbed shoes a coat and car keys, and came back outside. "Hop in," I said, opening the driver's door of my car for Toby. He loped up to the car and hopped in. He settled himself into the passenger seat and waited for me to roll down his window.

He loved cars.

I believe my dog had a special appreciation for cars, especially old ones. Once I had taken him with me when I went to see the original "Dukes of Hazzard" car. When Toby saw it, he sniffed it, pawed at the air, and sat in front of it obediently, as if he were protecting it.

But that's beside the point.

Now, back to the point...

I was halfway to Piper's apartment when I remembered there were no animals allowed in. _Oh well,_ I thought. _Toby can wait in the car._ Hold on. Wait for what? Why was I going to Piper's again?

I didn't know.

I just needed to see her. For some reason I just needed to see her.

* * *

I pulled into her driveway and parked. It was dark by then. Toby didn't know where we were, and he was excited. I stepped out, told Toby to stay, and closed the driver's door. He stuck his big head out the window and stared at me. I started to walk up to the door of the building, but then I stopped. Something in one of the upstairs windows caught my eye. It was only two stories up, but I could see into Piper's window because the light was on. 

She was upstairs, in the living room of her apartment. She was wearing a camisole and short shorts, sitting on her couch. She was staring out the window. I could barely see her face but I could tell she was thinking. She turned on a radio. I could hear the music a little bit through her opened window.

_When she's alone  
He doesn't know how much she cares  
When she's alone  
On those days that he's not there  
Her thoughts run wild  
Her heart beats strong  
The things he misses that're goin' on_

_In her heart  
In her mind  
When she's alone  
Oh..._

I could barely hear the words of the music, but I could soon see Piper's face changing. She started to cry. Why was she crying? I'd only seen her cry once, but I knew the reason then. Why was she crying now? What was wrong? She was just so happy earlier.

_When he's alone  
He thinks of her all day through  
When he's alone  
And everything that they went through_

_She haunts his mind  
Holds his heart  
He wants her to be a bigger part  
In his home  
In his life  
He wants her to be his wife_

_This is what he feels  
When he's alone_

I went home.

_And they don't wanna be apart  
They don't wanna be alone  
And as she holds his hand close to her heart  
He feels like he's comin' home  
And they're not alone  
_

_When she's alone, oh  
He doesn't know how much she cares  
When she's alone  
On those days that he's not there  
She haunts his mind  
Holds his heart  
_

_He wants her to be a bigger part  
In his home  
In his life  
So now here they are  
Husband and wife  
And they're not alone_

_

* * *

_

**Well here's a first for me: I have no disclaimer for the song...Because I wrote it. It's really an unfinished song that starts around the chorus and ends...Well, with the chorus...lol...But yeah, um...I wrote it. It's called "When She's Alone" (duh)and I wrote it a long time ago and decided it would be okay to use here. BTW, if anyone has a curiousity to know, when Leo spilled his guts about what happened with Monica (when he told Piper everything at the park) andPiper told him to burn her photos & memories, I considered adding Jo Dee Messina's song "Burn", but decided not to. It's a pretty good song, so check it out if you like Jo Dee Messina.**

**- hannahlt09**


	9. The Last Barrier & My Forever

**Okay I'm gonna do another double chapter, because these are both short and fluffy (the whole damn story's fluffy!)...Chapter 12 is short too but it will be by itself...Chapter 13 is unnecessarily long but that's okay! So here's Chapters 10 and 11!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Ten - The Last Barrier**

I didn't talk to Piper for a couple days. She seemed to sense something was wrong—or maybe the same things were happening to her—and she didn't call or come over.  
I called my friends. They took me out to Gloria's again.

"So where've you been, Leo? We don't hear from you as much anymore," Chris was saying as we walked up to the door to Gloria's.

"Yeah, what's up?" Jack said.

I shrugged.

Blake suddenly jumped. "He hooked up!"

"What?"

"He did!" Blake continued. "He hooked up! You did, didn't you!" He waited for my answer. I barely sputtered out a word. "You did! So, what's she like?"

We went into the bar. "I dunno..."

"She blonde?"

"I didn't hook up with anyone really."

"Then what happened with you?"

We all took seats at the bar. They put me on the middle stool to hear my story. "This girl kinda...came up to me...in a restaurant a couple months ago..."

"And you're marrying her," Ryan guessed. "He's marrying her!"

"No, no, I'm not marrying her."

"Oh."

I sighed. "So we've kinda been friends for a couple months..."

"Two months and you're just friends? Yeah right!"

"We are," I insisted. "But then I was talking to my sister and she kinda...opened up this strange door..."

"Like Alice in Wonderland?" Jack asked.

_Why me? Why these friends? _I sighed. "No, not like that. I meant it as a metaphor...kinda."

"Oh..."

"But anyway, now I look at this girl different..."

"Upside-down?"

"No, you dumbass!" Blake told Ryan, slapping his arm. "He means he's found out he's attracted to her."

_Thank you, Blake!_

"And now he doesn't want to do something totally stupid," Blake added.

_And there he goes...So much for that..._

Ryan nodded slowly, as if he understood.

"And I think she feels the same," I said. "She's spent the night before—We slept in different rooms!" I added quickly. "But now...I don't know..."

"You're attracted to her."

"No..." I shook my head.

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm not."

"Whatever, Dude. She's probably hot, too. Don't let her pass you up."

* * *

That night, Piper called. She said she was just calling to say she wanted to come over. I was shocked. It was rare, it seemed, that Piper would _call_ before coming over. I told her it was fine, come on over.

Then, after she hung up and I stared at the door she would be coming through in a few minutes, I thought about what to say to her, what to do. I didn't have any ideas yet, but I thought maybe...Maybe something would come to me. One of those "in the nick of time" kind of thoughts.

Yeah right.

Like that would really happen.

Piper showed up half an hour later. She looked tired...calmer. Something about her was different. She was here to talk, I knew that.

"Hey."

"Hi."

She padded into the living room and dropped onto the couch with a sigh. I closed the front door and followed her footsteps. She was looking at the coffee table in front of her, not willing to meet my eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying not to let her know that I knew something was different between us now. I think she knew though.

She sighed again. "I'm not sure." She looked up at me slowly. Our eyes met and we held the gaze for a few seconds. "C'mere," she said quietly, barely audible.

I sat down beside her. "I think...some things have changed..." she said.

"I know."

"Not that much, I don't think...But enough."

"What happened?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just...For the last week or so...I've..." She shook her head. "I dunno, I've...you know..."

"I _don't_ know. That's why I'm asking."

She almost smiled. "I'm looking at you differently."

"How so?"

She'd been looking away, and now she glanced at me. "I think...I mean I've always...But now..." she said, not making much sense. She sighed. "I don't know if we can just be friends. I think I'm too attracted to you."

I wasn't expecting her to be so blunt. "Oh. Um..." I wasn't sure what to say.

"Please say something," Piper whispered.

I had nothing to say. I had just realized how perfect she was. To me. I blinked and suddenly it was clear how much I wanted her. And I knew what to do, how to make her understand that I felt the same way. I kissed her. At first she wasn't sure of what to do, but she soon gave in. The kiss got deeper and more desperate. I gently pushed her down on the couch. She started to go down, but then she pulled away.

"Mmm, no, wait. We can't."

"Why not?"

She looked into my eyes. She ran her hand down the side of my face. "Just not here, not now. I mean, we barely know—"

"Know each other? Piper, I've known you for almost three months."

"And we've only been kissing for less than three _minutes_."

I sat back. She had a point.

"I know most couples would be in a serious relationship by now, but we've got something different," she said, curling up beside me. "Can we go...kinda slow?"

"Kinda slow...I think I might be able to handle that."

She nodded. "Thank you."

I had to kiss her again, so I did. This time it was easier. We took our time. I went as slow as I could and she seemed grateful. I knew she was scared. Hell, I was scared too. I didn't know what any of this meant. Truthfully, I was still seething from Monica, I still really didn't want another relationship. Piper helped me through it more than I could ever have imagined.

And now the last barrier between us was down.

It was like being set free.

**

* * *

**

Chapter Eleven - My Forever

Piper showed up the next day before dinnertime and stayed late, until at least eleven o'clock, before going home. I couldn't sleep much that night, and the next morning I sat out on the front porch with a cup of coffee, trying to wake up.

I looked up and noticed that my neighbor on the right was also out on the porch. He was a nice enough guy, in his late twenties, single. He'd graduated college a couple of years ago. We talked now and then, as neighbors do. I nodded at him. He smiled a little bit.

"So what's with that girl you keep bringin' in and outta here?" he asked, standing against the railing of his front porch.

I shrugged.

"Girlfriend?"

"Kinda."

"Kinda? She's been coming in early and leaving late for the past...what, three months?"

I nodded. "Just about."

"She's cute."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah."

"I noticed a few times...she left the next morning..." He was grinning.

"Yeah, a few times."

"Getting close?"

I sighed and leaned against the side of my house. "A little closer every day."

* * *

Piper came over again that night. As soon as the door closed we were kissing. We stumbled into the living room and made it to the couch.

"Did you make anything for dinner?"

"No, I wasn't hungry. Are you?"

She shook her head. "Not for food."

I had to stop for a second. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Piper..."

"I've been thinking..." she started slowly as I ran my hands over her arms and shoulders, "...and I don't want to go home tonight..."

I knew what she was saying and I would have taken her upstairs in a heartbeat. Hell, I would have her downstairs if that was what she wanted. _What she wanted._ Was she sure? I had to know. She couldn't be teasing, could she?

"Are you sure?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

She nodded. "Positive."

I nodded, too. "Okay...Okay."

She smiled. "Okay."

We kissed again. From there we were off. There was no stopping, no turning back. We somehow made it upstairs without tripping and falling. We stumbled down the hallway in mid-kiss and went straight for my room. We turned around and found ourselves inside. I closed the door. Then I carried her to my bed and made love to her.

She was not like any other woman I had ever been with. She was different, very different. She knew what she wanted but she didn't know how easy it was for her to get it, and I mean that in so many ways. She grew up with so many people around the house that she hardly got what she deserved. So that stuck in her mind, that doing a lot would make her feel good about herself but the credit she deserved for what she'd gone through and done in her life would be too hard to get. She had no idea how simple it was to get that credit. Simple things pleased her, like if I noticed a change in her hairstyle or clothes. That was almost too easy. I could read her easily, and she could read me as well.

Later that night she woke up and looked up at me.

"What time is it?" she asked.

I shrugged.

She giggled. "Can you check?"

"Yeah, hold on." I took my arm off of her side and rolled over. I tossed her bra off of the clock that was on the bed stand and checked the time. I rolled back over. "You don't want to know."

"How late is it?"

"Not late. Early."

"Well then how early?"

Why was she so easy to talk to? Why was she so perfect? I had no idea, but she drove me insane. She was just too beautiful, too...Piper. She was too Piper. "About two in the morning," I told her.

"Ugh..." She sighed and curled up against my chest. I held her as tight as I could without hurting her. She smiled. "I like this."

"So do I."

"I really wanna stay like this...For a long time, maybe forever."

"Forever _is_ a long time. A very long time."

"I know...I like the idea of forever. I like you being in my forever."

"If that's what you want, then I'm yours forever."

She smiled again. "I like that too."

_Simple things._

* * *

When we woke up again it was noon. She had the brilliant idea of staying in bed all day. I had the much-hated idea of getting up and moving about. We didn't like it, but we did it anyway. She just slipped on the jersey she liked, nothing else. I put pants on. When I tried to get my shirt on she stopped me.

"We're not going outside or anything, at least not into public. You can put a shirt on when we leave the house."

I just smiled.

Toby didn't like being locked out of my room all night. He was used to sleeping on the bed with me, or at least being in the room. He loved Piper, but he gave us the most angry dog-look I'd ever seen when I opened my bedroom door, and I'm about 97 positive that he put a doggy-death curse on us. He was lying in front of the door when I opened it, and I assumed he'd been there all night. He took his anger out on me all day, rolling his fur on the carpet and carrying sticks inside to shred them to pieces in the living room.

A dog has to have his revenge, too.

* * *

The next few weeks progressed and turned out to be even better. Piper spent more time than ever at my house. Phoebe called now and then to check in on Piper. She'd taken me to meet Prue and Paige by then and they seemed as nice as Phoebe did.

It was only natural that Piper wanted meet my friends. Problem was, I _really_ thought it would be a _bad_ idea. Piper, however, was all for it. She loved the idea of calling herself my girlfriend, and she was a little protective. Once she showed up at work to go with me to lunch and the waitress hit on me.

Piper put her in her place.

At work, Sarah was crazy about the idea of Piper and me being together. When Ashley found out, she was all for it too. She absolutely loved the idea. They both liked Piper. Then there was just a matter of telling my parents, who I knew would love Piper as much as I did.

Whoa, wait a minute.

What?

I sat for a moment and thought. Was it true? Did I love Piper? Why wouldn't I? I was friends with her for almost three months, and we'd been lovers for almost a month...It'd been only four months since we met, it seemed like a lot longer...Why wouldn't I love her? Why _shouldn't_ I love her? I did.

I loved her.

Oh God, I loved her. That was terrifying. But it meant I wasn't scared anymore, scared of a relationship or of reliving my problems I had with Monica. But I wasn't scared now. I trusted Piper. I loved her.

Now I just had to tell her.

* * *

It was the next day that the opportunity came up. It was about ten in the morning, and we were still in bed, watching TV, but not really paying attention. We were really alternating between watching and kissing. Right now we were doing anything but watching.

She broke the kiss. "Shouldn't we get out of bed?"

"Why?"

She pretended to think. "Never mind, no reason."

"Good." I kissed her and ran my hand down her thigh. She smiled and just pulled me closer.

"I think I love you," she said between kisses.

I stopped. "What?"

"Ooh, sorry. Too soon?"

I scooped her up in my arms. She was so easy to hold. "No," I said, pulling her closer and resting my forehead against hers. "Not too soon."

She smiled. "I love you," she said again, a little more sure this time.

There was little hesitation in my voice as I responded. "I love you too."

"This is terrifying."

I smiled. "I know, I love it."

She laughed, then her face dropped. She seemed sad. "You have to be careful."

"Why?"

Her eyes softened. She ran a hand down the side of my face. "The last man who said he loved me died. And the man before him moved to London for business."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I hope not. For a while I thought I was cursed."

"You're not. You're too beautiful to be cursed."

She smiled. "See, that's what I said!"

"Nothing bad will happen to me...Or to you, for that matter."

"Thanks. How can I ever thank you?"

"For what?"

"For being you. For coming out of your shell and having fun again. For finding love again," she said.

For once I knew exactly what to say, and I knew that even though it was a little cheesy, it was what she wanted to hear.

"Be part of my forever."

* * *

**Okay cheesey,I know, but I'm a girl...lol...Okay so I'll have the next chapter up soon, then the last two...Three chapters to go, people! I promise, promise, promise I will have the next chapter of Payback up just after or right before I finish this fic. I'm working on another couple of fics too, so hold out people! And remember, I love your reviews!**

**hannahlt09  
"the squirrel whose sister is a dog" - lol**


	10. Ten Years From Now

**All right, my brother has finally gone BACK to his college, so I now have the internet to myself again! Yay! That means updates! Things were pretty hectic for a few weeks, what with finals and all (which were easy, except that I took _geometry-_my worst subject-on Friday the 13th)...But now they're over, we're having a party TONIGHT and YOU are ALL invited! (unless you're reading this tomorrow, lol!) Yay! Party!**

**Hope you all enjoy the update! It's pretty much a filler chapter, but the next chapter will be a LOT longer.**

**

* * *

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**Chapter Twelve - Ten Years From Now**

We had a wonderful relationship from then on. Almost two months after we first "officially started dating" (Piper's words, not mine), she was packing up to move in. It made sense, considering the fact that she spent all her spare time here anyway and had for the past six months.

Six months...Wow...I'd known her for half a year and I'd only really just met her. I know that sounded strange, but it's true, I really just found out who she really is. She wasn't as self-confident as she seemed. She compared herself to other women just like every other girl on this planet. She worried about her looks and always wore matching clothes...Usually. When she was at my house, she would let loose and not have a care in the world. She would walk around wearing a plaid shirt and striped pants with a jacket that had bubblegum-pink dots on it with her hair messed up.

She didn't care, not over at my house at least.

But that was all I could ask.

* * *

Once, I found her on the couch, being bored, freaking out over an infomercial. I came home from work and saw her there and walked up to her. "Hey, Sweetie."

She sighed and grunted in response.

"What's wrong?"

She nodded toward the television. She set the remote down beside her and shifted on the couch, with her right leg under her and her right arm on the back of the couch.

"...Conair?" I asked, seeing the infomercial she was watching. Conair was selling some sort of hair straightener/colorer/crimper/glosser/can opener...Okay, I went too far. It doesn't open cans.

Piper shook her head. "The women in the commercial..." She shifted again, pulling both of her knees up to her chest and locking her arms around her legs. She rested her head on the top of her knees and sighed again.

"What about them?" Right now the infomercial was showing before and after pictures of women with horribly frizzy hair turning into silky-hair goddesses.

"They're too damn beautiful..."

I moved to sit beside her on the couch. I watched the show for a moment then asked, "So? Why is that bad?"

She smiled and hit me in the chest with a pillow. "Typical male."

I smiled, too. "Seriously, why are you comparing yourself to women on infomercials with frizzy hair?"

Slowly, she turned her head to glare at me.

"What'd I say?" I asked innocently.

"I never said I was comparing myself to them!" she shouted, hitting me with the pillow again. She fell back into the couch after leaving the pillow on my face.

I tossed the pillow to the recliner to prevent any more hitting. "You _are_ comparing yourself to them, though, aren't you?"

"Well duh! Look at them! They've got perfect hair and perfect teeth and...Ugh, you're a guy, you wouldn't understand..."

I moved closer to her, not quite sure what was up with her mood swings but going along with it. "Listen, your teeth are just fine, and you have beautiful hair. It was actually one of the first things about you I noticed."

She looked at me, smiled a little, then glued her eyes to the television. "What was the first?"

"The way you walked." I ran a hand through her hair. "See, as long as I can do this, your hair is perfect."

"Even if it looked like that?" She nodded to the TV again, and the picture of a blonde woman with crazy hair came up.

"Even if it looked like that...which it doesn't and it won't. And besides, you know they fluff up those people's hair to make it look worse."

She nodded. We were silent for a moment, watching the TV and making fun of the women with the frizzy hair. Piper had already reached for my hand and I stroked her hair with my free hand.

"And they're all like Size Zero!" she suddenly burst.

I almost jumped. "What?"

"Look how skinny they are! They're like Size Two!"

"And you're a three, quit complaining."

"Some of my clothes are fours..." she muttered.

"The buffet clothes."

She smiled at me and barely nodded.

"Exactly, see? Those clothes are for going out to eat out and close a buffet...Besides, you don't want a toothpick body, that's just...too skinny. And I like that hourglass figure you've got goin' on."

She sighed slowly.

"Why are you even beating yourself up comparing yourself to them?" I asked, my lips near her ear. "You are absolutely beautiful, you're hot in a bikini, and even hotter naked. Stop wanting to be someone else."

It took her a moment to stop blushing. "What're you saying? I shouldn't...cut my hair or...lose ten pounds?"

"Don't you ever cut your hair."

She smiled.

"And if you lost ten pounds people would think you were anorexic or something."

She looked at me. "Should I stay the same then?"

"I wouldn't have you any other way."

She smiled again. "Thanks."

I had to smile back. "Anytime." I kissed her and pulled her onto my lap. We settled back into the couch. When we pulled apart she grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. She settled on watching the end of Rocky IV, which turned out to be one of her favorite movies.

* * *

A week later Piper approached me with a question. "Leo, I have to talk to you."

I followed her into the living room and sat beside her on the couch. "What is it?"

"I need you to think for a moment, okay?"

"...Okay..."

"I mean into the future. What do you think your life will be like ten years from now?" she asked.

I almost laughed, but I didn't, for her sake. "Um...I think I'll still be working the same job, but maybe I'll be vice president of the company or something...That would be nice...I wouldn't have Toby...I'd have a couple of other dogs..."

"Do you see me?"

I looked at her. "What?"

"Me. Do you see me in your future, in ten years?"

I nodded. I could picture that. "Yeah, I see you."

She smiled and I knew that was exactly the answer she was looking for. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too, but why did you ask anyway?"

"I read this article today and it said that if you can picture your future and the person you're with now is in it, then you know you found the right man...or woman." She smiled.

"I don't need to look into the future to know that. I can just look right in front of me," I told her, making her smile again. God, I was good. I was learning exactly what to say.

The truth was that I'd never thought about it. I never really did think about the future and things like that, but I knew women thought about it a lot. I wasn't really surprised when Piper asked me. I knew something was on her mind.

The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Why wouldn't Piper be in my future? I loved her, she was amazing. I loved everything about her, the good and the bad.

"Oh, and Leo?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"My, uh...birthday is coming up soon...Like in three weeks...Whatcha gonna get me?" She put on her most pleading face.

"I don't know, what do you want?"

She shrugged. "I don't know...Flowers, chocolates, engagement ring...You know..." she said casually, waving a hand.

I laughed. "Yeah. Right."

She smiled. "By the way, there's a message on the answering machine for you. It's, uh...your mother."

"My mother, why?"

Piper shrugged again. "I don't know. She's _your_ mother. By the way, when were you going to introduce me to her? I haven't met any of your friends, either."

"Count your blessings."

"I want to meet them."

"No you don't." I got up to go to the kitchen, where the answering machine was.

"Why not?"

"Trust me!"

She got up and followed me. "Can't I just...talk to one of them on the phone?"

I laughed out loud. "That's funny."

"I wanna meet them, Leo."

I sighed and looked at her. "Fine. I'll call them and have them meet us at Gloria's next Friday."

"...Gloria's? Why don't I know this girl?" She was teasing.

"It's a bar. Friday's is karaoke night."

"Ooh, yay!"

I pressed 'Play' on the answering machine and my mom's voice started playing.

"Leo, it's your mother. Just calling to check in, I know we haven't talked in a few weeks. Anyway, I have some news. We're planning a family reunion in a couple weeks, not this Saturday but the next. The whole family. Ashley and Michael are planning on going, you oughta come to. We miss you over here, and I know you miss the rest of the family, wherever the hell they are..."

I laughed.

My mother's voice continued. "But anyway, I really want you to go. Bring a friend, preferably a girl...You know what I mean..." She giggled. "Remember Saturday after next. Bring a girl!"

The message ended. I looked up at Piper. She laughed. "Good, I get to meet your parents!" she said.

"No, you get to meet the whole fam damily."

* * *

**And here is when I have a problem. I'm _going_ to finish all my stories, but I'm really drifting away from Charmed fiction. I mean, lately I've been writing a few different fics off to the side with characters with different names, is all. I have a couple of fics that I'm working on that I _really_ want to post, but I don't think they'd make all-to-great P&L Charmed fics. I don't want to stop writing for you guys, because I love it and actually I've formed some pretty good friendships through this site, but I kind of want to start another account just for fiction. All that really means is I need a Misc. category, because the only real differences are that I've used different character names and personalities. I know I already do that, but I've really been using the character names Ana and Jaron instead of Piper and Leo, I've given them brothers and sisters, pasts and futures...**

**Basically what I'm doing is difting toward writing _books_, not fanfiction. I don't want to go over to FictionPress and start something there, but I want to get my stories read without having to dub them "fan fiction". I've drifted away from Charmed a lot I've noticed. I still watch, of course, but I'm not so crazy about it anymore. (eek, I'm growing up!) I still want you all to read the story I have going, because I really think it's good. It's not finished, but I think it's gonna be great...**

**I'll finish all my fics, then I have to decide what I'm going to do. I'm thinking I might just write the stories how I want them for a while. I'm kind of becoming attatched to the characters I've created, and I'm using their names and personalities a lot. Like instead of having twenty fics around Piper, Leo, Prue, Phoebe, and Paige and only having them in it, I have a new set of characters I'm using, and I like them. I'm kind of just playing God right now with "their lives" in my stories. It's kind of weird because all I'm used to is writing Charmed fics, but I've sent some stories in to my Literature teacher, and I think once I finish something, she can help me get published. I used to just want people to read what I wrote and get my voice (or words) heard (or read...whatever), but now I want to be published for real.**

**So that probably didn't make too much sense and you are all confused now...I'll finish all my fics before I do anything drastic. I may just start a new account at sister site. That's kinda scary, though, because I wonder how many people will read my stuff.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chappie, the next one will be long.  
Review, please, it makes me happy, and I like being happy!**

**-hannahlt09  
"the squirrel whose sister is a dog"**


	11. Family Reunion

**Thanks to all of you for being so understanding about my, uh...dillema (sp?). Especially thanks to psychokitty3 for the rambling speech, it's good to know I'm not the only one going through the "fic to novel" change...lol. So here's Chapter 13 (and it's long...) Hope you enjoy.**

**BTW, I've started to rewrite Love is a Myth. When I'm done and moved on a little from it, I'll start to repost the chapters with a new name and new problems and all that good stuff. ya know? So thanks for stickin' with me!

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Chapter 13 - Family Reunion

I tried to turn Piper against meeting my closest friends. She couldn't be swayed. So we met Jack, Chris, Blake, and Ryan at Gloria's that Friday. It was packed that night, full of rednecks and hillbillies. It was a country bar just outside of town.  
Piper followed me inside, holding tight to my hand. Jack stood up, yelled something, and called us over. We found them at the back table. They had two tables pushed together. All four of them were there, including Blake's girlfriend Heather and Jack's fiancé Lizza, short for Elizabeth. Six of the eight chairs pulled up were taken, and there were two next to each other that were empty. Piper and I managed to squish between the wall and the table to get to them.  
"So this is the legendary girl," Chris observed.  
Piper hung her coat on the back of her chair and sat down. I introduced her to everyone at the table. "Uh, Piper, this is Chris, Blake, Ryan, and Jack, old friends of mine. This is Elizabeth, Jack's fiancé—just call her Lizza. And that's Heather, Blake's long-time girlfriend who should just give up and marry his sorry ass," I said, directing my last words at Heather, who just laughed. "And yes, this is the legendary Piper Halliwell," I added, putting my arm around her shoulders.  
When everyone was introduced to Piper and she thought she'd memorized all their names, they ordered us food and drinks. Jack was offering to pay.  
The karaoke started and some good singers went up. Chris and Ryan put their names in. I was talking to Heather, who was sitting across from me, when I looked over and saw Piper flipping through a song book for people who want to choose a song to sing.  
"What're you doing?"  
"Looking for a song..."  
"Which one?"  
"Son of a Preacher Man."  
"You gonna sing?" I asked.  
She nodded and pushed some hair behind her ears. She hadn't looked up yet, she was still flipping through the "S" section in the book.  
"Really?"  
She nodded.

* * *

I had no idea Piper had such a voice.  
She belted out every high note and low note there was and she worked the crowd, walking up and down the stage. She was truly amazing. Every day I learned something about that woman that impressed me.  
When the song was over everyone was cheering and whistling. She walked back smiling and sat down modestly.  
"You're awesome. I never knew you could sing."  
"You never heard me sing?"  
"No."  
She smiled. The next time she got up, she sang a sad song, and the tempo was a little slower. Everyone with lighters got them out and swayed them in the air. When she was finished singing, the bar erupted in applause another time.  
The next singer was the DJ, who was a good singer herself. She sang a slow song, and couples got up to dance. Piper stood up. "Come on."  
We danced among all the other couples, but they didn't matter at all. I held her as close as I could and she rested her head against my chest as we slow-danced. I leaned my head down and took in a deep breath, getting the scent of her hair before the cigarette smoke from the bar covered it.  
She sighed. "I love you."  
"Good to know." I nodded. She looked up slowly and smiled. I kissed her softly. "I love you too," I told her.  
She nodded. "Good to know."

* * *

Of course, Piper was a big hit with all of my friends and with the karaoke DJ. She told us to come back again soon, and Piper promised we would. At that moment I knew that going to Gloria's was going to become a tradition.  
We drove home around midnight and went inside. Piper smelled her hair. "I smell like smoke," she said.  
"I know, so do I."  
"I didn't smoke a cigarette and now I smell like I smoked a pack."  
It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't had a cigarette in six months. Since I met Piper. I thought about that for a moment and said, "I used to smoke."  
She hung her coat up. "Really?"  
I nodded. "Not much, I wasn't a pack-a-day smoker, but it was enough to piss off my secretary. She made me quit, and kept on my ass about it for a while."  
"I've never seen you smoke."  
"I quit when I met you. Sarah stole my last pack just before I met you."  
"Good for her. I don't like smokers that much...At least not when they smoke in front of me."  
"Yeah, I never realized that I quit."  
"You didn't?"  
"No...You gave me something else to do."  
She smiled. As she turned to go upstairs to our room, she patted me on the chest. "Glad I could help."

* * *

The next Friday, I was freaking out.  
"Leo, calm down."  
I looked up at Piper. "Why?"  
"Because you're making me nervous."  
I stopped pacing. "Sorry."  
"Will you calm down? It's just a family reunion."  
"Just a family reunion? Piper, you don't know my family."  
"I'm not scared, why are you?"  
"I'm not scared of my family. I'm scared for you."  
She laughed. "For me."  
I nodded. "My mother freaks out when I bring any girl home."  
"How far is home?"  
"Ventura."  
"Oh, right...You told me that once."  
I nodded. "Yeah, but she is just...weird...with any girl...Oh, God, you should have seen her around Michael when Ashley said they were getting engaged...My dad's okay...He tries to calm my mom down...Oh God and my aunt...My cousin's a freaking drunk—"  
"Leo."  
"Huh?"  
"Calm down." She slung her backpack over her shoulder. In it she had stuffed a hair brush, two toothbrushes, and a change of clothes for both of us. I'd warned her that my parents had a huge pool so she also threw in swimwear. "Come on, it's about a four and a half hour drive."  
I sighed. "Okay, hold on a sec." I checked Toby's automatic food and water dispenser and patted his head. "Be back tomorrow, Boy." He licked my hand.  
Piper smiled at me, said goodbye to Toby, and pulled me out of the house.

* * *

Four and a half hours later, we were at my parent's house in Ventura. It was nine o'clock by then. I pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.  
"Come on!" Piper said, jumping out of the car and going around to the other side to get me. I got out and led her slowly up to the front door.  
I opened the door without knocking and led Piper inside. "Ma?" I called.  
"Leo!" I heard her shout from the other room. She came running in from the kitchen to hug me. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" I hugged her and kissed her cheek. When she finally let me go she stepped back. "Oh, good, you did bring a friend. I was worried you'd come alone."  
"Ma, this is Piper Halliwell, I've known her for about six months."  
"Six months and not a word? Leo..." my mother, Kerry, scolded me as she shook Piper's hands.  
"Actually we've only been together for three months," Piper said, confusing my mom. She smiled.  
"Well it's good to meet you, Dear." Mom looked at me. "Ashley and Michael have already been here, but they've booked a hotel room for the night. Do you have a room, or..."  
"No, Ma, we'll stay here."  
"Oh, good! Here, come, your aunt is here with your cousins. We're all in the kitchen." Mom ran off into the kitchen.  
Piper looked up at me and smiled.  
"What?" I asked.  
She just smiled wider. "Come on, let's go see the fam."  
We went into the kitchen. "All this for me?" I teased, noticing all the food they were cooking. "Ah, guys..."  
My aunt Pearl and my three cousins Matt, Brad, and Anna all looked up. "Leo!" I somehow survived the hugs and stepped back. I introduced Piper, who didn't seem at all nervous.  
"Something smells good," she said.  
"Oh, yes. We've got a turkey and a couple of pies and some bread baking...Do you cook?" That was my mother.  
Here come the questions.  
"Oh, I love to cook."  
"Great! Mind helping?"  
"Not at all."  
Piper took to those people like they'd been her family all her life. She answered all of my mother's endless questions without hesitation, until Ma got to asking about Piper's family.  
"I have three sisters, two younger and one fraternal twin."  
"Where are your parents?"  
That was where Piper hesitated. She glanced at me. I realized she never spoke about her parents or her extended family. I knew her mother was dead and her connections with her father were nothing, but she never went into detail.  
"Well?" Ma liked answers, immediate answers.  
Piper sighed. "My mother died when I was young, and my father walked out on my sisters and I not long after that. Our grandmother on my mom's side raised us. She just recently died, a couple of years ago."  
My mother's face softened. "I'm sorry."  
Piper brushed her off.  
"No extended family?"  
She shrugged. "I never tracked them down...I have a cousin I keep in touch with. We talk every now and then...But that's all."  
From there the questions slowed, but Ma was determined to know Piper like the back of her hand. Piper didn't seem to mind much.

* * *

When Piper was done bonding with my aunt, cousins, and mom, she joined me for the grand tour of the little house.  
"It's a three-bedroom, two bath..." I took her upstairs and down a hallway. "To the left, my sister's old bedroom..." I opened the door. Some old toys were still in the small room. There was still a twin-size bed, an old dresser, and a desk. The closet was open a little and we could see old clothes inside.  
"Smells like mothballs," Piper said.  
"I know, that's my mom's doings." We left that room and I showed her the small bathroom across the hall and then the bedroom at the corner of the hallway. "The room at the end is my parent's room. Always has been. The corner room on the left, that's mine."  
We went into my old room. It had been painted but the bed wasn't moved from the far wall on the right. There was a TV on the right wall and a bathroom in the corner. There was a desk across from the door and a closet almost behind the door. Piper went right in.  
"Nice," she said. "Cozy."  
"It wasn't like this when I was fifteen."  
She smiled and opened a dresser drawer. I went inside and closed the door behind me. Piper found something in the bottom on the drawer and held it up. "What's this?" she asked.  
I took the little picture from her and looked at it. I smiled. "Amanda Hayes."  
"The high school sweetheart?"  
I nodded. "Yeah."  
Piper smiled. "She's pretty. But blonde?"  
"Yeah, back then I liked blondes."  
"And now?"  
"Now I just like you."  
She smiled. "That's what you're supposed to say."  
I nodded again. "I know."  
She put the picture back at the bottom of the empty drawer and closed it. She looked up at me. "That's sweet, you know, that you still have her picture." She put her arms around my neck and I put my hands on her waist. "Keep my picture?"  
"Do I even have one of you?"  
She shrugged. "This is a family reunion. There's bound to be cameras."  
"Well if I get a picture of you, I'll keep it twice as long as Amanda's."  
She smiled. It was as if she wouldn't stop smiling that day. I was about to kiss her when she pulled away. "Wait, this is weird," she said.  
"Why?"  
"It's your old room. Who knows what kinda girls you had in here..."  
I smiled. "Not in the past eight years."  
She shook her head. "...I don't know..." Even though she still said she was weirded out, she let me kiss her. Soon she got used to the idea and the kiss got deeper.  
There was a knock on the door and we both jumped. My mother opened the door. "Leo," she teased, "what did I tell you about having girls in your room?"  
Piper looked up at me and smiled. I walked her out into the hallway. "Okay, then how about the hallway?" I said, kissing Piper again.  
"Be nice," she told me.  
"What? Weren't you close to your mom?"  
"I hardly remember her."  
"I know that, but what you do remember. Weren't you guys close?"  
She thought, then nodded a little bit.  
"Well if you can't remember too much, make some memories with my mom, she would love that. Consider her...your...step-half-mother-in-law twice removed."  
She laughed and said, "Wouldn't that make us related?"  
"Hope not." We both laughed. "Just consider her your...second mom. Not a replacement, but good enough to have some fun with."  
"Oh, don't I feel special," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.  
"Well you are. You should feel special."  
She smiled and I kissed her. We walked down the hall and back to the kitchen.

* * *

At ten thirty, my aunt and my cousin Anna went home. Matt and Brad stayed, saying they would just stay the night. Of course Ma was overjoyed. She loved it when family would visit and stay at her house. I think she got a little lonely, with only Dad to keep her company.  
Speaking of...I hadn't seen my dad.  
"Where's Dad?" I asked Ma right before Piper and I went up to bed.  
She laughed out loud. "Well it's about time you noticed."  
"Well, with all the commotion..."  
"I know, I know...He'll be in tomorrow morning. I'm going to pick him up from the airport at nine."  
"Where's he been?"  
"Business trip," she said, putting fake quotes around her words.  
"He's retired."  
"I know. He went fishing. Left Thursday night and went to a cabin with his brother." Ma sighed.  
"Well don't wake us up to go get him, I'll wait for him to come here."  
"I know, you don't get up before nine."  
I nodded. "Right."  
"Okay, I'm going up to bed...Goodnight."  
"'Night, Ma."  
She climbed the stairs and went to her room. I looked at Piper.  
"Well?"  
She smelled her clothes and her hair. "I smell like smoke again. Why does your aunt smoke?"  
"I know, you're not used to it. A lot of my family members smoke."  
We went upstairs. Matt came out of the bathroom in the hallway. We stopped. He looked at us. "You should seriously take a shower, get the mothball and smoke smell out. I swear..." He shook his head and walked across the hall to the room he and Brad were sleeping in. The door closed, but not before I noticed a sleeping bag on the floor. I assumed they'd played Paper, Rock, Scissors for the bed. Somebody lost.  
"Well, I think I'll take his words to heart," Piper said, moving for the bathroom.  
"Whoa, hold on...There's a bathroom in my room."  
"There is? I didn't notice."  
"Yeah, it's a stand-up shower."  
She nodded. "Okay."  
We went into my old room and closed and locked the door. Piper went straight into the bathroom. "Ooh, nice. I like it." The room had a sliding wooden door and she closed it most of the way. I heard her stripping down and saw the pile of clothes right by the opening of the door. She turned the water on and cursed it. "God damn, that's hot," I heard her mutter. I laughed and took off my shirt. "What?" she said.  
"You're funny. Need some help?" I asked, changing into some shorts. I moved to the door then.  
"Yeah...How do you work this showerhead?" she asked. I opened the door and went inside. I slid the door closed behind me. She looked up at me. "What're you doing?" She reached for a towel to cover herself.  
"Hey, don't do that, I like it better without the towel," I told her. She smiled and slowly dropped the towel. I'm not sure how I kept my eyes off of her long enough to explain the showerhead. "Now..." I started, moving around her to get to the shower. It was a stand-up shower, no bathtub. I turned the water on and made sure it wasn't too hot. "There you go," I said.  
"Thanks." She kissed me. "I'll be out in a few minutes."  
I nodded and left the bathroom, sliding the door closed behind me. When she came out I was lying on the bed on top of the blankets, watching TV. I noticed her right away and looked toward the end of the bed where she was standing. She ignored me deliberately, but I knew she was blushing as I watched her dry off. She changed into a camisole and pajama bottoms slowly, exposing herself to my eyes with no shame. She rang her hair out and went back into the bathroom. I could hear the blow-dryer and waited while she dried her hair. She came back out and climbed into the bed.  
"I'm tired," she said, turning onto her back. I rolled over and kissed her shoulder, working my way up her neck to her ear and cheek. She sighed. "Leo, this isn't right," she said.  
"What isn't?" I rolled onto my stomach with my head between her shoulder and neck and draped an arm across her stomach.  
"This...In your mother's house...It's weird."  
"Piper..." I kissed her neck.  
"Leo, please...It's too weird."  
"Fine." I gave her one quick but thorough kiss and rolled back onto my stomach, my head between her neck and shoulder and my arm over her stomach. "Your loss."  
She laughed.

* * *

The next morning, when we woke up, there was already a lot of bustling going on downstairs. My aunt and cousin Anna were back, my dad was there, and his brother was there too.  
I threw on a shirt and Piper and I wandered downstairs, still half asleep. Everyone was sitting down for breakfast.  
"They're alive!" Ma shouted as soon as we walked in. "I thought you'd never get up. Help yourself to some food."  
"What time is it?" I asked.  
"Ten...Oh, Leo, wake your cousins up, would you?" my mother's sister asked.  
I nodded and left Piper to fend for herself in the kitchen. I knew she wouldn't have any trouble. I went upstairs and down the hall to my cousin's room. Matt was on the floor and Brad was on the bed, tangled up in the sheets. I glanced around the room and noticed that Matt had brought his paintball guns, probably wanting to go out to the paintball range near here for a game. I grabbed one and made sure it wasn't loaded, but the CO2 can was in it. I took the safety off and pulled the trigger. The can must have been out of air because it let off a bunch of loud bursts that sounded a lot like a machine gun. Matt and Brad jumped up screaming.  
I started laughing and put the paintball gun down. "Get up." I went downstairs, where the others were staring at me.  
"What the hell was that?" Ma asked.  
"They're up," I said, getting a plate and going to the stove to get some food. I loaded up my plate and took a seat beside Piper. She was holding on a conversation with Anna.  
My dad came in from the back porch. "Leo!" I stood up and hugged him. "Good to see you, Son. Oh, and who's this?" he said, noticing Piper.  
"Dad, this is Piper Halliwell. Piper, this would be the infamous father."  
"Good to meet you." They shook hands. "Long-time girl?"  
I looked at Piper. I judged it as six months. She judged it as three. "Something like that," I said.  
He nodded a little bit, obviously a bit confused, and sat down to eat.

* * *

The big backyard was packed by one o'clock. There was a large white tent covering the two long tables of food. There were three or four picnic tables under the huge oak tree. People were crowded around—aunts, uncles, and a lot of cousins and second cousins. Both my parents came from big families. My mom had two brothers and two sisters and my dad was the middle child of six. All of my aunts and uncles had children, and some had grandchildren. All of those people were there. My grandparents from both sides of the family were also there.  
God bless Piper, she was so good. Everyone already knew Michael from the last reunion, but he and Ashley still had to deal with a lot of, "Oh my God! You're pregnant! Congratulations!" Piper had to deal with what Michael had to deal with at the last reunion—"And who's this?" "Oh, how long have you been dating?" "How'd you meet?" "Are you engaged?". She answered every question politely and made a lot of friends.  
There were kids running around everywhere. There were adults talking and eating and grandparents squishing cheeks. Ashley soon got tired of all the questioning and congratulating and came to find me. I was under the tent, watching Piper. She was playing with a group of little kids, all of them at least four or five. There were about six of them and they seemed to be having the time of their little lives.  
"She's pretty great, huh?" Ashley said.  
I looked down at my little sister. "Yeah," I said, nodding. I watched Piper again.  
Ashley suddenly smirked. "You love her, don't you?"  
I snapped to. "Huh?"  
"Piper. You love her."  
I nodded.  
"Oh, that's awesome! And I bet she loves you."  
"Yeah."  
Ashley smiled. "You guys are so cute together. It's really good to see you with someone, and Piper's a good girl."  
I nodded again. "How're you doing?" I knew she loved being pregnant, but the weight gaining part of it all was really getting to her.  
She shrugged. "Good enough. The people are getting to me, though. Now I remember why we don't do this very often." We both laughed. "Oh." She held her stomach and smiled.  
"What?"  
"She kicked."  
"She did?" Recently, Ashley and Michael went to see a doctor and found out that the baby was most certainly a girl.  
"Yeah, here." Ashley took my hand and put it on her stomach. "Feel?"  
I nodded. I could feel the baby kicking. It was amazing, like nothing I'd ever felt before. "Yeah...That's..." I trailed off.  
"Kinda scary, huh?"  
"A little."  
"I'm terrified of being a mother." After a silence, she added, "Uncle Leo." She laughed. "It doesn't sound right..."  
I laughed too. "No...But I don't think the baby will care."  
"You think I'll be a good mother?"  
I nodded. "A great mother." I glanced at Piper again. How she kept those kids' attention for so long was beyond me.  
"I think Piper would be a great mom, too," Ashley said.  
My eyes shot back to my sister. "What?"  
"You know...Just for future references..." She smiled and walked away.  
Not five minutes later, Piper sent the kids off on their separate ways and came to find me. "They've got a lot of energy," she said.  
"Yeah."  
"They're fun though."  
I nodded. "Yeah, they are." We were quiet for a moment. "Let's get outta here, just for a little bit."  
She smiled. "Okay."  
I led her out of the backyard and into a little patch of forest. There was a small stream running and it dropped onto a mini waterfall where one of the huge chunks of rock had broken off. Piper climbed onto the broken rock and I followed her.  
"This is pretty."  
"I used to come here all the time."  
"I bet you brought a lot of girls back here."  
"Not really."  
"No?"  
"Nah, this was my spot."  
She nodded. "I like it here. Your family is nice..."  
"Yeah, but if you get too much of them..." I shook my head.  
"I think I know what you mean."

* * *

At five o'clock, everyone was gone. Piper and I stayed for dinner before saying we had to go.  
"Oh, you can't go!" Ma exclaimed. "Stay the night!"  
"How come you let Ashley go home and we can't?"  
"Ashley's pregnant, that's different."  
"And I have a dog that hates to be left alone."  
Ma sighed. "Fine. But don't stay away too long."  
"We won't. Promise." I hugged her and then hugged my dad. Everyone else had gone and Piper and I were last to go. "Ready?"  
She nodded, but hugged my parents first.  
"It was good to meet you, Sweetie," Ma said. Piper just smiled.

* * *

We got home around ten. Toby greeted us at the door. I checked the house for messes of any sort. The worst he did was chew up a newspaper that was lying on the floor.  
"Good boy."  
He wagged his tail.  
Piper climbed the stairs and stopped at the top. "Leo."  
I looked up from playing with Toby on the floor. The big dog was on top of me and I was on my back, trying to wrestle a bone away from him.  
"I'll take you up on that offer now."  
"Huh?"  
"If you don't want to...Well...Your loss..." She turned and went up the stairs.  
I pushed Toby away, jumped up, and ran after Piper. "Wait a second!" I chased her upstairs and was about to go into our room. Before I knew what was happening she'd grabbed me and pulled me inside. When I got my bearings we were already kissing.  
The door swung closed. 


	12. And So It Was

**Chapter Fourteen - And So It Was...**

"Oh my God! Leo!"

I ran into the living room where Piper was. "What?"

"I just figured it out!"

I took a deep breath. "God, I thought you just found out you were pregnant or something...You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I just figured something out."

"What?"

"I've been thinking...Us...The way we were before we got together...It reminded me of someone...Another couple...Then it hit me."

"Huh?"

"Forces of Nature."

"...The movie?"

She nodded. "Yep. We were like Sarah and Ben."

"We were?"

"Yeah, I was the whimsical, fun one—"

"You _were_?"

"Well, you know what I mean...And you were the guy who never wanted to have fun but was forced to anyway."

"And now?"

"Well I'm the same, but you're like me now."

"Am I?"

"Yes. You've changed a lot." She stood up and put her arms around my neck. "I'm really happy for you," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and I hope I made some sort of contribution...Some sort of difference..."

"You made all the difference," I told her.

She smiled. "It's good to hear that."

* * *

So life went on. Ashley got bigger and she and Michael turned the spare room of their house into a nursery. She was six months pregnant and loving it. She said the morning sickness was pretty much gone but she did have a little trouble moving around. She could hardly bend over. 

Piper realized what she really wanted to do. She'd had little jobs here and there, some fair-paying desk jobs, but then one day it hit her.

"I want to open a restaurant."

"What?"

"Leo, I love to cook. It's my passion. I went to culinary school."

"You did?"

She nodded. "I've always wanted to cook. And I've been manager at that restaurant for a while now..."

"A month."

"Well the owner loves me."

"Does he now? Maybe I should have a talk with him..."

Piper smiled. "No need. I just think...Maybe he can help me open up this restaurant I've been dreaming of. Or maybe I can become part owner."

"Piper, to own like _twenty percent_ of a restaurant would cost twenty thousand dollars at _least_."

She nodded. "I know."

"...And you have twenty grand."

She nodded again.

"What? Where?" I glanced behind her. Maybe she would play pick-a-hand with the twenty grand.

"In the bank. When my grandma died, she left my sisters and I each twenty-five grand. I had a friend who knows what he's doing put it in stocks and it's turned into thirty-three thousand by now."

"Who's this guy? What's with all these guys?" I teased.

"He's the cousin I keep in touch with."

"...Oh."

"I want to get some of that money out and start a restaurant."

"...Are you sure? I mean, it's a big investment, and it might not work out..."

"I know...But I don't just want to be a manager, I want to own."

I nodded. "I'll back you all the way."

She smiled. "Thanks. That's what I need."

She got in touch with her cousin and they went over the costs, numbers, and papers. Then Piper talked to the owner of The Hurricane, the owner of the restaurant /bar she was working at. He went over some papers with Piper and her cousin and helped out as best he could.

* * *

Then one day Piper came home skipping. 

"What happened to _you_?"

She smiled. "A horrible, wonderful thing!"

"What?"

She stopped in front of me and put her hands on my arms. "Okay, get this. My boss, he loved the races, and I mean _loved_ the races. Horse races, of course. Well he made this huge bet and _lost_! Now he wants to almost _give_ me the restaurant! He doesn't want to see it go under, and he said he'll give me full ownership for fifteen thousand!"

"What?"

"I know! It's perfect!"

I wasn't sure how she was so happy about something that bad happening to her boss, but if it got her the restaurant she'd always wanted, then I was happy for her. She was glowing for the rest of the day.

* * *

She didn't make many changes to the restaurant. A few decoration changes, and a couple of changes to the bar, but it just made the place better. The Hurricane had a new logo, a new slogan, and a new commercial. It was a large place, a competitor with The Olive Garden and Cheddar's. Piper just made it better. 

She was living her dream, and nothing could make her happier.

And so life settled into place.

* * *

**Um...short, filler, last chapter is the next...It feels weird because I don't think this story is ready for a close. There wasn't really a problem or a big plot or car chase...lol...Just kinda a cute little story, I think.  
So please review, and I'll get the last chapter up and I'll officially have finished 2 stories on here! (yay?)**

**-hannahlt09**


	13. Fallen Angels

**OH MY GOD! I thought I'd posted this chapter! I am _so_ sorry! But seriously, I thought I posted this chapter! Anyway, this is the very last chapter of Fallen Angels, and it is the last. It'll probably make everyone mad because it's so short and confusing. Well it was supposed to be that way (confusing, that is)...It's more of an Epilogue than a chapter...but oh, well...Please R&R!**

**

* * *

**

Chapter Fifteen - Fallen Angels

Life was good, real good. Time passed quickly.

Ashley had her baby, and they named her Samantha Brianne Peterson. She had a full head of dark hair the day she was born and she was the most curious thing ever. Everyone fell head over heels in love with the little girl and she had plenty of babysitters, Piper and I included.

Speaking of Piper and I, we hit our one-year anniversary. She wanted to celebrate. I didn't mind, anything for her. I wouldn't have needed to celebrate, just being in the same room as her made my day perfect.

Just a few weeks later, I proposed. She said yes immediately. We were engaged for about three months and had a small outdoor wedding just outside of San Francisco. Her sisters were there and Prue brought her husband and son. My parents were there, along with Ashley, Michael, and Sam. Blake, Ryan, Jack, and Chris made it too. A few other close family members came, but the guest list barely topped twenty.

She wanted her dad to give her away at the wedding. She wanted that more than anyone could imagine. She wanted to work things out with him, after all this time. So not long after we were engaged, she and her sisters tracked him down and went to his house. After a long battle and a lot of questions answered, they came back home with a promise from their dad to come to the wedding and be a part of their lives. In the end he almost didn't show up, but he appeared at the last moment to walk her down the aisle.

Not two months after we were married, she told me she was four weeks pregnant. Eight months later she gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl I'd ever seen in my life. I was in the hospital room the entire five-hour labor—and she was screaming at me that it was all my fault for doing this to her the entire time. But when the doctor handed her the baby, she cried.

Anna Lee, who we named after my grandmother who died just after our wedding, grew up healthy and strong. She loved to play with her cousin Sam.

Piper was a wonderful mother. She loved her baby more than anything. Once I came home early from work and found Piper asleep in Anna's room, with one arm around the little girl.

We still had our good jobs, but I had a higher ranking at work and The Hurricane was getting better reviews every week. We had the flexibility to stay home when we needed to, for Anna. She went into daycare so that we could work, and then she started Preschool. She was bright and curious, always wanting to learn. She had a head of dark blonde soft curls, and she hated to cut her hair. She was popular in her kindergarten class and when she progressed to first grade, she couldn't have been happier. She was a big flirt, and she loved soccer, volleyball, and football, even though she didn't quite have all the rules to all three down yet, and she loved spinach, unlike any other kid in her school.

Some of her friends called her Anna, some called her Lee. When she was in third grade, she informed Piper and I of a boy she liked in her class who called her A-Lee, or Aylee. She loved it and some of her friends started calling her that, too, and soon people were confusing her name with the name Hailey, which just made her laugh every time.

In fourth grade, she won two spelling bees. Piper baked treats every Friday for her class and the other teachers. We went to all the PTA meetings and conferences, and Piper became Anna's fifth grade room mother. Everyone knew and loved her...

It wasn't until years after Piper and I first met that I thought about something she had said. Something about angels...Anna had graduated from high school and was in college by then.

Then we got a call from the hospital.

The driver who T-Boned Anna's car tried to apologize, and I had trouble holding Piper back when she tried attack him. The doctors put us through hell asking if they should take Anna off of the only machine keeping her alive. In the end we consented, said our last goodbyes to our only child, and stayed in the room when they cut her oxygen. We sued the driver, who was a lawyer himself, but he lost the case. The money didn't truly matter to us, but it did bring a little bit of closure.

We had a big funeral. Anna was very popular. The boy she said she'd liked in third grade, who called her Aylee, grew up to be one of her very best friends and a steady boyfriend. He came to the funeral, as did forty of Anna's other friends. Piper had asked for a large tombstone, with a picture of Anna's face sketched into it. It cost a lot of money, but again, the money didn't matter.

Piper wouldn't let me see the stone until the funeral. I had to stare at it for a moment before I recognized what was drawn. It was an angel. She was falling.

I looked at Piper and remembered what she'd once told me, years ago, when we first met. She called me a fallen angel. She never went into detail, but I understood now.

"They're everywhere," she whispered, reading the words inscribed along the bottom of the stone.

Maybe you don't understand right now, but I'm sure you will someday. I glanced at the stone again. _They're everywhere_. I knew it was true. They were a lost group, people who couldn't find happiness. Some can be saved.

Some can't.


End file.
